- number#
- number n1 quantity, whole, total, aggregate, *sum, amount2 Number, numeral, figure, digit, integer are comparable when they mean the character or characters by which an arithmetical value is designated.Number is the general term and is interchangeable with the others; it may refer to the word as well as to the character or characters{
the number forty-five
}and it may designate an abstraction or may have reference to concrete things{6 is a perfect number, that is, it represents the sum of its divisors 1, 2, and 3
}{the number of books was 1200
}A number may be classified as a cardinal number, according as it answers the question, how many?{ten or 10 and thirty-three or 33 are cardinal numbers
}or as an ordinal number, according as it indicates order or succession{the ordinal numbers first or 1st and second or 2nd
}Numeral is much narrower for it refers only to a cardinal number that is expressed by a character or characters; it therefore stresses the characters more than the values{the Roman numerals I, V, X, L, C, D, M
}{the Arabic numerals 1,2,3 . . .
}{a license plate bearing both letters and numerals,
}{the numerals on the boys' sweaters indicate their class by telling the year when they will graduate
}Figure applies to the character representing a numerical value, and usually suggests use of Arabic notation. The term is frequently employed in the plural implying the use of these characters in expressing a number{write all your numbers in figures
}{the cost went into four figures
}{legally, when there is a discrepancy in a document between numbers written out and expressed in figures, those written out are accepted
}Digit may refer to any of the whole numbers from one through nine or the numerals that denote these, or it may expressly refer to any one of the ten Arabic numerals (0, 1,2, 3,4, 5, 6,7,8, 9) by which all numbers can be expressed{the nine digits in arithmetic— Priestley
}{the numbers in arithmetic are expressed by the . . . ten digits— Charles Hutton
}Integer is a mathematical term for a number (whole number) that is not or does not contain a fraction{11 2/3 is not an integer
}{express your answers in integers, omitting all fractional parts
}number vb *count, tell, enumerateAnalogous words: *calculate, compute, estimate, reckon
New Dictionary of Synonyms. 2014.