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.

Arsenal signed Gyokeres in a deal worth £64m in the summer as Arteta looked to bring in a natural number nine and lead them to their first trophy since 2020.

From BBC • Nov. 4, 2025

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

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

Yet even this seemingly simple concept poses a challenge: there is no largest natural number.

From Scientific American • Aug. 16, 2021

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 Maunder, E. Walter (Edward Walter)

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