natural number

American

noun

a positive integer or zero.

natural number British

noun

any of the numbers 0,1,2,3,4,… that can be used to count the members of a set; the non-negative integers

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

natural number Scientific

A positive integer.

Etymology

Origin of natural number

First recorded in 1755–65

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

natural number

For someone who is not a natural number eight, he is also up there as the world's best in the position.

From BBC ● Feb. 7, 2026

While Mbeumo, who signed from French club Troyes in 2019, is not a natural number nine, he is viewed as being versatile, dynamic, powerful and fast, and Amorim wants flexible players.

From BBC ● Jun. 3, 2025

“Fifty-four is the natural number for me,” Wagner said Monday.

From Seattle Times ● May 22, 2023

He offers one soul a deal: He, Satan, will write a natural number on a piece of paper.

From Scientific American ● Feb. 26, 2019

Half the product of the two might, perhaps, seem to be a natural number to adopt for symbolic purposes.

From The Astronomy of the Bible An Elementary Commentary on the Astronomical References of Holy Scripture by E. Walter (Edward Walter) Maunder

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023