numeral

[noo-mer-uh l, nyoo-; noom-ruh l, nyoom-]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR numeral ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a word, letter, symbol, or figure, etc., expressing a number; number: the Roman numerals.

adjective

of, relating to, or consisting of numbers or numerals.

expressing or noting a number or numbers.

Origin of numeral

1520–30; < Late Latin numerālis of, belonging to number, equivalent to Latin numer(us) number + -ālis -al¹

Related formsnon·nu·mer·al, noun, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for numeral

digit, figure, character, number, cipher, integer

Examples from the Web for numeral

Contemporary Examples of numeral

If you are invited into the office of its director, you can see a clock on the wall that has a small hole near the numeral 1.
Anne Frank’s Amsterdam
Russell Shorto
October 12, 2013
We all dance the entire DSM IV (and its coming progeny, the Roman numeral–free DSM 5) right down the line.
‘Girls’ Shows Us the Real OCD With Hannah’s Brutal Q-Tip Scene
Kent Sepkowitz
March 11, 2013

Historical Examples of numeral

And if these Kufic characters reached there, then why not the numeral forms as well?
The Hindu-Arabic Numerals
David Eugene Smith
We have in this paragraph examples of the use of three of the “numeral particles.”
The Maya Chronicles
Various
Ordinal—That form of the numeral that shows the order of anything in a series.
Capitals
Frederick W. Hamilton
Initial for hue, numeral above for value, numeral below for chroma.
A Color Notation
Albert H. Munsell
He can not even say “two” correctly, without applying the numeral to some object.
Western Characters
J. L. McConnel

British Dictionary definitions for numeral

numeral

noun

a symbol or group of symbols used to express a number: for example, 6 (Arabic), VI (Roman), 110 (binary)

adjective

of, consisting of, or denoting a number

Word Origin for numeral

C16: from Late Latin numerālis belonging to number, from Latin numerus number

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

Word Origin and History for numeral

1520s, "word expressing a number," from Middle French numéral (late 15c.), from Late Latin numeralis "of or belonging to a number," from Latin numerus "a number" (see number (n.)). Meaning "figure standing for a number" is from 1680s. As an adjective, "expressing number," from 1520s.

numeral in Science

numeral

[nōō′mər-əl]

A symbol or mark used to represent a number.

numeral in Culture

numeral

A word or symbol used to represent a number.