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

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

Kai Havertz, who is playing the centre-forward role despite not being a natural number nine, is their top scorer in the league on seven.

From BBC ● Jan. 13, 2025

If people put forward these replies to the largest natural number question, who would be right?

From Scientific American ● Jul. 13, 2023

A fragile tail, featuring at least three natural number 11s, also cranked up the responsibility on the overnight pairing of Root and Foakes.

From Seattle Times ● Jun. 5, 2022

We have heard it said that five per cent. is the natural interest of money, that twelve is the natural number of a jury, that forty shillings is the natural qualification of a county voter.

From Critical and Historical Essays — Volume 2 by Macaulay, Thomas Babington Macaulay, Baron

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