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.

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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

A notable difference from Almaty was Rodgers' ability to call on natural number nine in Iheanacho.

From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2025

To prove that every natural number is either happy or sad, you have to go through all three-digit numbers.

From Scientific American ● Oct. 24, 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

A perfect number is a natural number which is equal to the sum of its aliquot parts.

From Popular Science Monthly Oct, Nov, Dec, 1915 — Volume 86 by Anonymous

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