positional notation

American  

noun

1. a type of numeration in which the position of a digit affects its value.

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positional notation British  

noun

1. the method of denoting numbers by the use of a finite number of digits, each digit having its value multiplied by its place value, as in 936 = (9 × 100) + (3 × 10) + 6

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Etymology

Origin of positional notation

First recorded in 1940–45

Example Sentences

Without a positional notation system, arithmetic is tedious and hard, as schoolchildren learn when teachers force them to multiply or subtract with Roman numerals.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann

And it is a placeholder in a positional notation system, such as our *Actually, it didn’t.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann