Names of numbers in English
Encyclopedia
English numerals are words for numbers used in English-speaking
cultures.
Cardinal number
s refer to the size of a group.
If a number is in the range 21 to 99, and the second digit is not zero, one typically writes the number as two words separated by a hyphen
.
In English, the hundreds are perfectly regular, except that the word hundred remains in its singular form regardless of the number preceding it (nevertheless, one may on the other hand say "hundreds of people flew in", or the like)
So too are the thousands, with the number of thousands followed by the word "thousand"
In American usage, four-digit numbers with non-zero hundreds are often named using multiples of "hundred" and combined with tens and ones: "One thousand one", "Eleven hundred three", "Twelve hundred twenty-five", "Four thousand forty-two", or "Ninety-nine hundred ninety-nine." In British usage, this style is common for multiples of 100 between 1,000 and 2,000 (e.g. 1,500 as "fifteen hundred") but not for higher numbers.
Americans may pronounce four-digit numbers with non-zero tens and ones as pairs of two-digit numbers without saying "hundred" and inserting "oh" for zero tens: "twenty-six fifty-nine" or "forty-one oh five". This usage probably evolved from the distinctive usage for years; "nineteen-eighty-one". It is avoided for numbers less than 2500 if the context may mean confusion with time of day: "ten ten" or "twelve oh four".
Intermediate numbers are read differently depending on their use. Their typical naming occurs when the numbers are used for counting. Another way is for when they are used as labels. The second column method is used much more often in American English
than British English
. The third column is used in British English, but rarely in American English (although the use of the second and third columns is not necessarily directly interchangeable between the two regional variants). In other words, the British dialect can seemingly adopt the American way of counting, but it is specific to the situation (in this example, bus numbers).
Note: When writing a cheque
(or check), the number 100 is always written "one hundred". It is never "a hundred".
Note that in American English
, many students are taught not to use the word and anywhere in the whole part of a number, so it is not used before the tens and ones. It is instead used as a verbal delimiter when dealing with compound numbers. Thus, instead of "three hundred and seventy-three", one would say "three hundred seventy-three". For details, see American and British English differences.
For numbers above a million, there are two different systems for naming numbers in English (for the use of prefixes such as kilo- for a thousand, mega- for a million, milli- for a thousandth, etc. see SI units):
The numbers past a trillion, in ascending powers of ten, are as follows: quadrillion, quintillion, sextillion, septillion, octillion, nonillion, decillion, undecillion, duodecillion, tredecillion, quattuordecillion, and quindecillion (that's 10 to the 48th, or a one followed by 48 zeros). The highest number listed on Robert Munafo's table, is a milli-millillion. That's 10 to the 3000003rd.
The googolplex has often been nominated as the largest named number in the world. If a googol is ten to the one hundredth, then a googolplex is one followed by a googol of zeroes.
Although British English has traditionally followed the long-scale numbering system, the short-scale usage has become increasingly common in recent years. For example, the UK Government and BBC websites use the newer short-scale values exclusively.
Here are some approximate composite large numbers in American English:
Often, large numbers are written with (preferably non-breaking) half-spaces or thin spaces separating the thousands (and, sometimes, with normal space
s or apostrophes) instead of comma
s—to ensure that confusion is not caused in countries where a decimal comma is used. Thus, a million is often written .
In some areas, a point
(. or ·) may also be used as a thousands' separator, but then, the decimal separator
must be a comma.
Combinations of numbers in most sports scores are read as in the following examples:
Naming conventions of Tennis score
s (and related sports) are different than other sports.
numbers refer to a position in a series. Common ordinals include:
Zeroth only has a meaning when counts start with zero, which happens in a mathematical
or computer science
context.
Ordinal numbers such as 21st, 33rd, etc., are formed by combining a cardinal ten with an ordinal unit.
Higher ordinals are not often written in words, unless they are round numbers (thousandth, millionth, billionth). They are written using digits and letters as described below. Here are some rules that should be borne in mind.
These ordinal abbreviations are actually hybrid contractions of a numeral and a word. 1st is "1" + "st" from "first". Similarly, we use "nd" for "second" and "rd" for "third". In the legal field and in some older publications, the ordinal abbreviation for "second" and "third" is simply, "d".
NB: The practice of using "d" to denote "second" and "third" is still often followed in the numeric designations of units in the US armed forces, for example, 533d Squadron.
Any ordinal name that doesn't end in "first", "second", or "third", ends in "th".
.
Here are some common fraction
s (partitive numerals):
Alternatively, and for greater numbers, one may say for 1/2 "one over two", for 5/8 "five over eight", and so on. This "over" form is also widely used in mathematics. (This form is not common in British English.)
Numbers with a decimal point may be read as a cardinal number, then "and", then another cardinal number followed by an indication of the significance of the second cardinal number (not common in British English); or as a cardinal number, followed by "point", and then by the digits of the fractional part. The indication of significance takes the form of the denominator of the fraction indicating division by the smallest power of ten larger than the second cardinal. This is modified when the first cardinal is zero, in which case neither the zero nor the "and" is pronounced, but the zero is optional in the "point" form of the fraction.
In English the decimal point was originally printed in the center of the line (0·002), but with the advent of the typewriter it was placed at the bottom of the line, so that a single key could be used as a full stop/period and as a decimal point. In many non-English languages a full-stop/period at the bottom of the line is used as a thousands separator with a comma being used as the decimal point.
A space is required between the whole number and the fraction; however, if a special fraction character is used like "½", then the space can be done without, e.g.
After "nine", one can head straight back into the 10, 11, 12, etc., although some write out the numbers until "twelve".
Another common usage is to write out any number that can be expressed as one or two words, and use figures otherwise.
Numbers at the beginning of a sentence should also be written out.
The above rules are not always used. In literature, larger numbers might be spelled out. On the other hand, digits might be more commonly used in technical or financial articles, where many figures are discussed. In particular, the two different forms should not be used for figures that serve the same purpose; for example, it is inelegant to write, "Between day twelve and day 15 of the study, the population doubled."
". These are derived etymologically from the range affixes:
The prefix "ump-" is added to the first two suffixes to produce the empty numbers "umpteen" and "umpty": it is of uncertain origin. There is a noticeable absence of an empty number in the hundreds range.
Usage of empty numbers:
See also Placeholder name
.
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
cultures.
Cardinal numbers
Cardinal number
Cardinal number (linguistics)
In linguistics, cardinal numbers are number words representing a quantity . They are related to ordinal numbers - See also :...
s refer to the size of a group.
0 | zero (nought) 0 (number) 0 is both a numberand the numerical digit used to represent that number in numerals.It fulfills a central role in mathematics as the additive identity of the integers, real numbers, and many other algebraic structures. As a digit, 0 is used as a placeholder in place value systems... |
10 | ten 10 (number) 10 is an even natural number following 9 and preceding 11.-In mathematics:Ten is a composite number, its proper divisors being , and... |
||
1 | one | 11 | eleven 11 (number) 11 is the natural number following 10 and preceding 12.Eleven is the first number which cannot be counted with a human's eight fingers and two thumbs additively. In English, it is the smallest positive integer requiring three syllables and the largest prime number with a single-morpheme name... |
||
2 | two | 12 | twelve 12 (number) 12 is the natural number following 11 and preceding 13.The word "twelve" is the largest number with a single-morpheme name in English. Etymology suggests that "twelve" arises from the Germanic compound twalif "two-leftover", so a literal translation would yield "two remaining [after having ten... |
20 | twenty 20 (number) 20 is the natural number following 19 and preceding 21. A group of twenty units may also be referred to as a score.-In mathematics:*20 is the basis for vigesimal number systems.... |
3 | three | 13 | thirteen 13 (number) 13 is the natural number after 12 and before 14. It is the smallest number with eight letters in its name spelled out in English. It is also the first of the teens – the numbers 13 through 19 – the ages of teenagers.... |
30 | thirty 30 (number) 30 is the natural number following 29 and preceding 31.-In mathematics:30 is the sum of the first four squares, which makes it a square pyramidal number.It is a primorial and is the smallest Giuga number.... |
4 | four | 14 | fourteen 14 (number) 14 is the natural number following 13 and preceding 15.In speech, the numbers 14 and 40 are often confused. When carefully enunciated, they differ in which syllable is stressed: 14 vs 40... |
40 | forty 40 (number) 40 is the natural number following 39 and preceding 41.Despite being related to the word "four" , 40 is spelled "forty", and not "fourty"... (no "u") |
5 | five | 15 | fifteen 15 (number) 15 is the natural number following 14 and preceding 16. In English, it is the smallest natural number with seven letters in its spelled name.... (note "f", not "v") |
50 | fifty 50 (number) This article discusses the number fifty. For the year 50 CE, see 50. For other uses of 50, see 50 50 is the natural number following 49 and preceding 51.-In mathematics:... (note "f", not "v") |
6 | six | 16 | sixteen 16 (number) 16 is the natural number following 15 and preceding 17. 16 is a composite number, and a square number, being 42 = 4 × 4. It is the smallest number with exactly five divisors, its proper divisors being , , and .... |
60 | sixty 60 (number) 60 is the natural number following 59 and preceding 61. Being three times twenty, 60 is called "three score" in some older literature.-In mathematics:... |
7 | seven | 17 | seventeen 17 (number) 17 is the natural number following 16 and preceding 18. It is prime.In spoken English, the numbers 17 and 70 are sometimes confused because they sound similar. When carefully enunciated, they differ in which syllable is stressed: 17 vs 70... |
70 | seventy 70 (number) 70 is the natural number following 69 and preceding 71.-In mathematics:Its factorization makes it a sphenic number. 70 is a Pell number and a generalized heptagonal number, one of only two numbers to be both. Also, it is the seventh pentagonal number and the fourth 13-gonal number, as well as the... |
8 | eight | 18 | eighteen 18 (number) 18 is the natural number following 17 and preceding 19.In speech, the numbers 18 and 80 are sometimes confused. When carefully enunciated, they differ in which syllable is stressed: 18 vs 80 . However, in dates such as 1864, or when contrasting numbers in the teens, such as 17, 18, 19, the stress... (only one "t") |
80 | eighty 80 (number) 80 is the natural number following 79 and preceding 81.- In mathematics :The sum of Euler's totient function φ over the first sixteen integers is 80.... (only one "t") |
9 | nine | 19 | nineteen 19 (number) 19 is the natural number following 18 and preceding 20. It is a prime number.In English speech, the numbers 19 and 90 are often confused. When carefully enunciated, they differ in which syllable is stressed: 19 vs 90... |
90 | ninety 90 (number) 90 is the natural number preceded by 89 and followed by 91.- In mathematics :*Because 90 is the sum of its unitary divisors , it is a unitary perfect number, and because it is equal to the sum of a subset of its divisors, it is a semiperfect number. 90 is a pronic number. But it is also a... (note the "e") |
If a number is in the range 21 to 99, and the second digit is not zero, one typically writes the number as two words separated by a hyphen
Hyphen
The hyphen is a punctuation mark used to join words and to separate syllables of a single word. The use of hyphens is called hyphenation. The hyphen should not be confused with dashes , which are longer and have different uses, or with the minus sign which is also longer...
.
21 | twenty-one 21 (number) 21 is the natural number following 20 and preceding 22.-In mathematics:Twenty-one is the fifth discrete Semiprime and the second in the family. With 22 it forms the second discrete Semiprime pair... |
25 | twenty-five 25 (number) 25 is the natural number following 24 and preceding 26.-In mathematics:It is a square number, being 5² = 5 × 5. It is the smallest square that is also a sum of two squares: 25 = 3² + 4²... |
32 | thirty-two 32 (number) 32 is the natural number following 31 and preceding 33.-In mathematics:32 is the smallest number n with exactly 7 solutions to the equation φ = n... |
58 | fifty-eight 58 (number) 58 is the natural number following 57 and preceding 59.-In mathematics:Fifty-eight has an aliquot sum of 32 and is the second composite member of the 83-aliquot tree.... |
64 | sixty-four 64 (number) 64 is the natural number following 63 and preceding 65.-In mathematics:Sixty-four is the square of 8, the cube of 4, and the sixth power of 2. It is the smallest number with exactly seven divisors. It is the lowest positive power of two that is adjacent to neither a Mersenne prime nor a Fermat... |
79 | seventy-nine 79 (number) Seventy-nine is the natural number following 78 and preceding 80.79 may represent:-In mathematics:*An odd number*The smallest number that can't be represented as a sum of fewer than 19 fourth powers*A strictly non-palindromic number... |
83 | eighty-three 83 (number) 83 is the natural number following 82 and preceding 84.-In mathematics:Eighty-three is the sum of three consecutive primes as well as the sum of five consecutive primes .... |
99 | ninety-nine 99 (number) 99 is the natural number following 98 and preceding 100.-Mathematics:99 is the ninth repdigit, a palindromic number and a Kaprekar number... |
In English, the hundreds are perfectly regular, except that the word hundred remains in its singular form regardless of the number preceding it (nevertheless, one may on the other hand say "hundreds of people flew in", or the like)
100 | one hundred 100 (number) 100 is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101.-In mathematics:One hundred is the square of 10... |
200 | two hundred 200 (number) 200 is the natural number following 199 and preceding 201.The number appears in the Padovan sequence, preceded by 86, 114, 151 .... |
… | … |
900 | nine hundred 900 (number) For the year 900, see 900 BC or 900 AD.900 is the natural number following 899 and preceding 901. It is the square of 30 and the sum of Euler's totient function for the first 54 integers... |
So too are the thousands, with the number of thousands followed by the word "thousand"
1,000 | one thousand |
2,000 | two thousand 2000 (number) 2000 is the natural number following 1999 and preceding 2001.Two thousand is the highest number expressible using only two unmodified characters in roman numerals .Two thousand is also:... |
… | … |
10,000 | ten thousand 10000 (number) 10000 is the natural number following 9999 and preceding 10001.-Name:Many languages have a specific word for this number: In English it is myriad, in Ancient Greek , in Aramaic , in Hebrew רבבה , in Chinese , in Japanese [man], in Korean [man], and in Thai หมื่น [meun]... |
11,000 | eleven thousand |
… | … |
20,000 | twenty thousand |
21,000 | twenty-one thousand |
30,000 | thirty thousand |
85,000 | eighty-five thousand |
100,000 | one hundred thousand 100000 (number) One hundred thousand is the natural number following 99999 and preceding 100001. In scientific notation, it is written as 105.In South Asia, one hundred thousand is called a lakh... or one lakh Lakh A lakh is a unit in the Indian numbering system equal to one hundred thousand . It is widely used both in official and other contexts in Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and is often used in Indian English.-Usage:... (Indian English) |
999,000 | nine hundred and ninety-nine thousand (British English) nine hundred ninety-nine thousand (American English) |
1,000,000 | one million Million One million or one thousand thousand, is the natural number following 999,999 and preceding 1,000,001. The word is derived from the early Italian millione , from mille, "thousand", plus the augmentative suffix -one.In scientific notation, it is written as or just 106... |
10,000,000 | ten million or one crore Crore A crore is a unit in the Indian number system equal to ten million , or 100 lakhs. It is widely used in India, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan.... (Indian English) |
In American usage, four-digit numbers with non-zero hundreds are often named using multiples of "hundred" and combined with tens and ones: "One thousand one", "Eleven hundred three", "Twelve hundred twenty-five", "Four thousand forty-two", or "Ninety-nine hundred ninety-nine." In British usage, this style is common for multiples of 100 between 1,000 and 2,000 (e.g. 1,500 as "fifteen hundred") but not for higher numbers.
Americans may pronounce four-digit numbers with non-zero tens and ones as pairs of two-digit numbers without saying "hundred" and inserting "oh" for zero tens: "twenty-six fifty-nine" or "forty-one oh five". This usage probably evolved from the distinctive usage for years; "nineteen-eighty-one". It is avoided for numbers less than 2500 if the context may mean confusion with time of day: "ten ten" or "twelve oh four".
Intermediate numbers are read differently depending on their use. Their typical naming occurs when the numbers are used for counting. Another way is for when they are used as labels. The second column method is used much more often in American English
American English
American English is a set of dialects of the English language used mostly in the United States. Approximately two-thirds of the world's native speakers of English live in the United States....
than British English
British English
British English, or English , is the broad term used to distinguish the forms of the English language used in the United Kingdom from forms used elsewhere...
. The third column is used in British English, but rarely in American English (although the use of the second and third columns is not necessarily directly interchangeable between the two regional variants). In other words, the British dialect can seemingly adopt the American way of counting, but it is specific to the situation (in this example, bus numbers).
Common British vernacular | Common American vernacular | Common British vernacular | |
"How many marbles do you have?" | "What is your house number?" | "Which bus goes to the high street?" | |
101 | "A hundred and one." | "One-oh-one." Here, "oh" is used for the digit zero. |
"One-oh-one." |
109 | "A hundred and nine." | "One-oh-nine." | "One-oh-nine." |
110 | "A hundred and ten." | "One-ten." | "One-one-oh." |
117 | "A hundred and seventeen." | "One-seventeen." | "One-one-seven." |
120 | "A hundred and twenty." | "One-twenty." | "One-two-oh", "One-two-zero." |
152 | "A hundred and fifty-two." | "One-fifty-two." | "One-five-two." |
208 | "Two hundred and eight." | "Two-oh-eight." | "Two-oh-eight." |
334 | "Three hundred and thirty-four." | "Three-thirty-four." | "Three-three-four." |
Note: When writing a cheque
Cheque
A cheque is a document/instrument See the negotiable cow—itself a fictional story—for discussions of cheques written on unusual surfaces. that orders a payment of money from a bank account...
(or check), the number 100 is always written "one hundred". It is never "a hundred".
Note that in American English
American English
American English is a set of dialects of the English language used mostly in the United States. Approximately two-thirds of the world's native speakers of English live in the United States....
, many students are taught not to use the word and anywhere in the whole part of a number, so it is not used before the tens and ones. It is instead used as a verbal delimiter when dealing with compound numbers. Thus, instead of "three hundred and seventy-three", one would say "three hundred seventy-three". For details, see American and British English differences.
For numbers above a million, there are two different systems for naming numbers in English (for the use of prefixes such as kilo- for a thousand, mega- for a million, milli- for a thousandth, etc. see SI units):
- the long scaleLong and short scalesThe long and short scales are two of several different large-number naming systems used throughout the world for integer powers of ten. Many countries, including most in continental Europe, use the long scale whereas most English-speaking countries use the short scale...
(decreasingly used in British English) designates a system of numeric names in which a thousand million is called a ‘‘milliard’’ (but the latter usage is now rare), and ‘‘billion’’ is used for a million million. - the short scaleLong and short scalesThe long and short scales are two of several different large-number naming systems used throughout the world for integer powers of ten. Many countries, including most in continental Europe, use the long scale whereas most English-speaking countries use the short scale...
(always used in American English and increasingly in British English) designates a system of numeric names in which a thousand million is called a ‘‘billion’’, and the word ‘‘milliard’’ is not used.
Number notation | Power notation |
Short scale | Long scale |
---|---|---|---|
1,000,000 | 106 | one million Million One million or one thousand thousand, is the natural number following 999,999 and preceding 1,000,001. The word is derived from the early Italian millione , from mille, "thousand", plus the augmentative suffix -one.In scientific notation, it is written as or just 106... |
one million |
1,000,000,000 | 109 | one billion a thousand million |
one milliard a thousand million |
1,000,000,000,000 | 1012 | one trillion a thousand billion |
one billion a million million |
1,000,000,000,000,000 | 1015 | one quadrillion a thousand trillion |
one billiard a thousand billion |
1,000,000,000,000,000,000 | 1018 | one quintillion a thousand quadrillion |
one trillion a million billion |
1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 | 1021 | one sextillion a thousand quintillion |
one trilliard a thousand trillion |
The numbers past a trillion, in ascending powers of ten, are as follows: quadrillion, quintillion, sextillion, septillion, octillion, nonillion, decillion, undecillion, duodecillion, tredecillion, quattuordecillion, and quindecillion (that's 10 to the 48th, or a one followed by 48 zeros). The highest number listed on Robert Munafo's table, is a milli-millillion. That's 10 to the 3000003rd.
The googolplex has often been nominated as the largest named number in the world. If a googol is ten to the one hundredth, then a googolplex is one followed by a googol of zeroes.
Although British English has traditionally followed the long-scale numbering system, the short-scale usage has become increasingly common in recent years. For example, the UK Government and BBC websites use the newer short-scale values exclusively.
Here are some approximate composite large numbers in American English:
Quantity | Written | Pronounced |
---|---|---|
1,200,000 | 1.2 million Million One million or one thousand thousand, is the natural number following 999,999 and preceding 1,000,001. The word is derived from the early Italian millione , from mille, "thousand", plus the augmentative suffix -one.In scientific notation, it is written as or just 106... |
one point two million |
3,000,000 | 3 million | three million |
250,000,000 | 250 million | two hundred fifty million |
6,400,000,000 | 6.4 billion | six point four billion |
23,380,000,000 | 23.38 billion | twenty-three point three eight billion |
Often, large numbers are written with (preferably non-breaking) half-spaces or thin spaces separating the thousands (and, sometimes, with normal space
Space
Space is the boundless, three-dimensional extent in which objects and events occur and have relative position and direction. Physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions, although modern physicists usually consider it, with time, to be part of a boundless four-dimensional continuum...
s or apostrophes) instead of comma
Comma (punctuation)
The comma is a punctuation mark. It has the same shape as an apostrophe or single closing quotation mark in many typefaces, but it differs from them in being placed on the baseline of the text. Some typefaces render it as a small line, slightly curved or straight but inclined from the vertical, or...
s—to ensure that confusion is not caused in countries where a decimal comma is used. Thus, a million is often written .
In some areas, a point
Point (typography)
In typography, a point is the smallest unit of measure, being a subdivision of the larger pica. It is commonly abbreviated as pt. The point has long been the usual unit for measuring font size and leading and other minute items on a printed page....
(. or ·) may also be used as a thousands' separator, but then, the decimal separator
Decimal separator
Different symbols have been and are used for the decimal mark. The choice of symbol for the decimal mark affects the choice of symbol for the thousands separator used in digit grouping. Consequently the latter is treated in this article as well....
must be a comma.
Specialized numbers
A few numbers have special names (in addition to their regular names):- 0: has several other names, depending on context:
- zero: formal scientific usage
- naught / nought: mostly British usage
- aught: Mostly archaic but still occasionally used when a digit in mid-number is 0 (as in "thirty-aught-six", the .30-06 Springfield.30-06 SpringfieldThe .30-06 Springfield cartridge or 7.62×63mm in metric notation, was introduced to the United States Army in 1906 and standardized, and was in use until the 1960s and early 1970s. It replaced the .30-03, 6 mm Lee Navy, and .30 US Army...
rifle cartridgeCartridge (firearms)A cartridge, also called a round, packages the bullet, gunpowder and primer into a single metallic case precisely made to fit the firing chamber of a firearm. The primer is a small charge of impact-sensitive chemical that may be located at the center of the case head or at its rim . Electrically...
and by association guns that fire it) - oh: used when spelling numbers (like telephone, bank account, bus line)
- nil: in general sport scores, British usage ("The score is two-nil.")
- nothing: in general sport scores, American usage ("The score is two to nothing.")
- null: used technically to refer to an object or idea related to nothingness. The 0th aleph numberAleph numberIn set theory, a discipline within mathematics, the aleph numbers are a sequence of numbers used to represent the cardinality of infinite sets. They are named after the symbol used to denote them, the Hebrew letter aleph...
() is pronounced "aleph-null". - love: in tennisTennisTennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
, badmintonBadmintonBadminton is a racquet sport played by either two opposing players or two opposing pairs , who take positions on opposite halves of a rectangular court that is divided by a net. Players score points by striking a shuttlecock with their racquet so that it passes over the net and lands in their...
, squashSquash (sport)Squash is a high-speed racquet sport played by two players in a four-walled court with a small, hollow rubber ball...
and similar sports (origin disputed, often said to come from FrenchFrench languageFrench is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
l'œuf, "egg"; but the Oxford English DictionaryOxford English DictionaryThe Oxford English Dictionary , published by the Oxford University Press, is the self-styled premier dictionary of the English language. Two fully bound print editions of the OED have been published under its current name, in 1928 and 1989. The first edition was published in twelve volumes , and...
mentions the phrase for love, meaning nothing is at risk) - zilch, nada (from Spanish), zip: used informally when stressing nothingness; this is true especially in combination with one another ("You know nothing—zero, zip, nada, zilch!")
- nix: also used as a verb
- cypher / cipher: archaic, from French chiffre, in turn from Arabic sifr, meaning zero
- 1:
- ace: in certain sports and games, as in tennis or golf, indicating success with one stroke, and the face of a die or playing card with one pip
- solo
- unit
- 2:
- couple
- brace, from Old FrenchOld FrenchOld French was the Romance dialect continuum spoken in territories that span roughly the northern half of modern France and parts of modern Belgium and Switzerland from the 9th century to the 14th century...
"arms" (the plural of arm), as in "what can be held in two arms". - pair
- deuce: the face of a die or playing card with two pips
- duo
- 3:
- trey: the face of a die or playing card with three pips
- trio
- 4:
- cater: (rare) the face of a die or playing card with four pips
- quartetQuartetIn music, a quartet is a method of instrumentation , used to perform a musical composition, and consisting of four parts.-Western art music:...
- 5:
- cinque: (rare) the face of a die or playing card with five pips
- quintetQuintetA quintet is a group containing five members.It is commonly associated with musical groups, such as a string quintet, or a group of five singers, but can be applied to any situation where five similar or related objects are considered a single unit....
- nickel (informal American, from the value of the nickel (United States coin)Nickel (United States coin)The nickel is a five-cent coin, representing a unit of currency equaling five hundredths of one United States dollar. A later-produced Canadian nickel five-cent coin was also called by the same name....
, but applied in non-monetary references)
- 6:
- half a dozen
- sice: (rare) the face of a die or playing card with six pips
- sextetSextetA sextet is a formation containing exactly six members. It is commonly associated with vocal or musical instrument groups, but can be applied to any situation where six similar or related objects are considered a single unit....
- 7:
- septetSeptetA septet is a formation containing exactly seven members. It is commonly associated with musical groups, but can be applied to any situation where seven similar or related objects are considered a single unit, such as a seven-line stanza of poetry....
- septet
- 8:
- octet
- 9:
- nonet
- 10:
- decet
- 12: a dozenDozenA dozen is a grouping of approximately twelve. The dozen may be one of the earliest primitive groupings, perhaps because there are approximately a dozen cycles of the moon or months in a cycle of the sun or year...
(first powerExponentiationExponentiation is a mathematical operation, written as an, involving two numbers, the base a and the exponent n...
of the duodecimalDuodecimalThe duodecimal system is a positional notation numeral system using twelve as its base. In this system, the number ten may be written as 'A', 'T' or 'X', and the number eleven as 'B' or 'E'...
base), used mostly in commerce - 13: a baker's dozen
- 20: a score20 (number)20 is the natural number following 19 and preceding 21. A group of twenty units may also be referred to as a score.-In mathematics:*20 is the basis for vigesimal number systems....
(first power of the vigesimalVigesimalThe vigesimal or base 20 numeral system is based on twenty .- Places :...
base), nowadays archaic; famously used in the opening of the Gettysburg AddressGettysburg AddressThe Gettysburg Address is a speech by U.S. President Abraham Lincoln and is one of the most well-known speeches in United States history. It was delivered by Lincoln during the American Civil War, on the afternoon of Thursday, November 19, 1863, at the dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery...
: "Four score and seven years ago..." The Number of the BeastNumber of the BeastThe Number of the Beast is a term in the Book of Revelation, of the New Testament, that is associated with the first Beast of Revelation chapter 13, the Beast of the sea. In most manuscripts of the New Testament and in English translations of the Bible, the number of the Beast is...
in the King James BibleKing James Version of the BibleThe Authorized Version, commonly known as the King James Version, King James Bible or KJV, is an English translation of the Christian Bible by the Church of England begun in 1604 and completed in 1611...
is rendered "Six hundred threescore and six". - 50: half a centuryCenturyA century is one hundred consecutive years. Centuries are numbered ordinally in English and many other languages .-Start and end in the Gregorian Calendar:...
, literally half of a hundred, usually used in cricketCricketCricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
scores. - 100: a centuryCenturyA century is one hundred consecutive years. Centuries are numbered ordinally in English and many other languages .-Start and end in the Gregorian Calendar:...
, also used in cricketCricketCricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
scores. - 120: a great hundred (twelve tens; as opposed to the small hundred, i.e. 100 or ten tens), also called small grossSmall grossArchaically, a small gross or short gross is a quantity equal to ten dozen, i.e. 10 × 12 = 120.This number is also known as a great hundred or a duodecimal hundred....
(ten dozens), both archaic; also sometimes referred to as duodecimal hundred - 144: a grossGross (unit)A gross is equal to a dozen dozen, i.e. 12 × 12 = 144.It can be used in duodecimal counting. The use of gross likely originated from the fact that 144 can be counted on the fingers using the fingertips and first two joints of each finger when marked by the thumb of one hand. The other hand...
(a dozen dozens, second power of the duodecimal base), used mostly in commerce - 1000: a grand, colloquially used especially when referring to money, also in fractions and multiples, e.g. half a grand, two grand, etc.
- 1728: a great gross (a dozen gross, third power of the duodecimal base), used mostly in commerce
- 10,000: a myriadMyriadMyriad , "numberlesscountless, infinite", is a classical Greek word for the number 10,000. In modern English, the word refers to an unspecified large quantity.-History and usage:...
(a hundred hundred), commonly used in the sense of an indefinite very high number - 100,000: a lakhLakhA lakh is a unit in the Indian numbering system equal to one hundred thousand . It is widely used both in official and other contexts in Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and is often used in Indian English.-Usage:...
(a hundred thousand), loanwordLoanwordA loanword is a word borrowed from a donor language and incorporated into a recipient language. By contrast, a calque or loan translation is a related concept where the meaning or idiom is borrowed rather than the lexical item itself. The word loanword is itself a calque of the German Lehnwort,...
used mainly in Indian English - 10,000,000: a croreCroreA crore is a unit in the Indian number system equal to ten million , or 100 lakhs. It is widely used in India, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan....
(a hundred lakh), loanword used mainly in Indian English - 10100: googolGoogolA googol is the large number 10100, that is, the digit 1 followed by 100 zeros:The term was coined in 1938 by 9-year-old Milton Sirotta , nephew of American mathematician Edward Kasner...
(1 followed by 100 zeros), used in mathematics; not to be confused with the name of the company GoogleGoogleGoogle Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
(which was originally a misspelling of googol) - 10googolGoogolA googol is the large number 10100, that is, the digit 1 followed by 100 zeros:The term was coined in 1938 by 9-year-old Milton Sirotta , nephew of American mathematician Edward Kasner...
googolplex (1 followed by a googol of zeros) - 10googolplex googolplexplex (1 followed by a googolplex of zeros)
Combinations of numbers in most sports scores are read as in the following examples:
- 1–0 British English: one nil; American English: one-nothing, one-zip, or one-zero
- 0–0 British English: nil-nil, or nil all; American English: zero-zero or nothing-nothing, (occasionally scoreless or no score)
- 2–2 two-two or two all; American English also twos, two to two, even at two, or two up.)
Naming conventions of Tennis score
Tennis score
A tennis match is composed of points, games, and sets. A match is won when a player or a doubles team wins the majority of prescribed sets. Traditionally, matches are either a best of three sets or best of five sets format...
s (and related sports) are different than other sports.
Multiplicative numerals
A few numbers have specialised multiplicative numerals expresses how many fold or how many times:one time | once |
two times | twice |
three times | thrice |
Negative numbers
The name of a negative number is the name of the corresponding positive number preceded by "minus" or (American English) "negative". Thus -5.2 is "minus five point two" or "negative five point two". For temperatures, Americans colloquially say "below" —short for "below zero"— so a temperature of -5 ° is "five below".Ordinal numbers
OrdinalOrdinal number (linguistics)
In linguistics, ordinal numbers are the words representing the rank of a number with respect to some order, in particular order or position . Its use may refer to size, importance, chronology, etc...
numbers refer to a position in a series. Common ordinals include:
0th | zeroth Zeroth-order logic Zeroth-order logic is first-order logic without quantifiers. A finitely axiomatizable zeroth-order logic is isomorphic to a propositional logic. Zeroth-order logic with axiom schema is a more expressive system than propositional logic... or noughth (see below) |
10th | tenth Ordinal number In set theory, an ordinal number, or just ordinal, is the order type of a well-ordered set. They are usually identified with hereditarily transitive sets. Ordinals are an extension of the natural numbers different from integers and from cardinals... |
||
1st | first | 11th | eleventh Eleventh In music or music theory an eleventh is the note eleven scale degrees from the root of a chord and also the interval between the root and the eleventh.... |
||
2nd | second | |12th | twelfth Ordinal number (linguistics) In linguistics, ordinal numbers are the words representing the rank of a number with respect to some order, in particular order or position . Its use may refer to size, importance, chronology, etc... (note "f", not "v") |
20th | twentieth |
3rd | third | 13th | thirteenth Thirteenth In music or music theory, a thirteenth is the interval between the sixth and first scale degrees when the sixth is transposed up an octave, creating a compound sixth, or thirteenth. The thirteenth is most commonly major or minor .... |
30th | thirtieth |
4th | fourth Ordinal number In set theory, an ordinal number, or just ordinal, is the order type of a well-ordered set. They are usually identified with hereditarily transitive sets. Ordinals are an extension of the natural numbers different from integers and from cardinals... |
|14th | fourteenth | 40th | fortieth |
5th | fifth | 15th | fifteenth Fifteenth In music, a fifteenth or double octave, abbreviated 15ma, is the interval between one musical note and another with one-quarter the wavelength or quadruple the frequency. The fourth harmonic, it is two octaves. It is referred to as a fifteenth because, in the diatonic scale, there are 15 notes... |
50th | fiftieth |
6th | sixth | |16th | sixteenth | 60th | sixtieth |
7th | seventh | |17th | seventeenth | 70th | seventieth |
8th | eighth (only one "t") | |18th | eighteenth | 80th | eightieth |
9th | ninth Ninth In music, a ninth is a compound interval consisting of an octave plus a second.Like the second, the interval of a ninth is classified as a dissonance in common practice tonality. Since a ninth is a larger than a second, its sonority level is considered less dense.-Major ninth:A major ninth is a... (no "e") |
|19th | nineteenth | 90th | ninetieth |
Zeroth only has a meaning when counts start with zero, which happens in a mathematical
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
or computer science
Computer science
Computer science or computing science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems...
context.
Ordinal numbers such as 21st, 33rd, etc., are formed by combining a cardinal ten with an ordinal unit.
21st | twenty-first |
25th | twenty-fifth |
32nd | thirty-second |
58th | fifty-eighth |
64th | sixty-fourth |
79th | seventy-ninth |
83rd | eighty-third |
99th | ninety-ninth |
Higher ordinals are not often written in words, unless they are round numbers (thousandth, millionth, billionth). They are written using digits and letters as described below. Here are some rules that should be borne in mind.
- The suffixes -th, -st, -nd and -rd are occasionally written superscript above the number itself.
- If the tens digit of a number is 1, then write "th" after the number. For example: 13th, 19th, 112th, 9,311th.
- If the tens digit is not equal to 1, then use the following table:
If the units digit is: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 write this after the number th st nd rd th th th th th th - For example: 2nd, 7th, 20th, 23rd, 52nd, 135th, 301st.
These ordinal abbreviations are actually hybrid contractions of a numeral and a word. 1st is "1" + "st" from "first". Similarly, we use "nd" for "second" and "rd" for "third". In the legal field and in some older publications, the ordinal abbreviation for "second" and "third" is simply, "d".
- For example: 42d, 33d, 23d
NB: The practice of using "d" to denote "second" and "third" is still often followed in the numeric designations of units in the US armed forces, for example, 533d Squadron.
Any ordinal name that doesn't end in "first", "second", or "third", ends in "th".
Dates
There are a number of ways to read years. The following table offers a list of valid pronunciations and alternate pronunciations for any given year of the Gregorian calendarGregorian calendar
The Gregorian calendar, also known as the Western calendar, or Christian calendar, is the internationally accepted civil calendar. It was introduced by Pope Gregory XIII, after whom the calendar was named, by a decree signed on 24 February 1582, a papal bull known by its opening words Inter...
.
Year Year A year is the orbital period of the Earth moving around the Sun. For an observer on Earth, this corresponds to the period it takes the Sun to complete one course throughout the zodiac along the ecliptic.... | Most common pronunciation method | Alternative methods |
---|---|---|
1 BC | (The year) One Before Christ (BC) Anno Domini and Before Christ are designations used to label or number years used with the Julian and Gregorian calendars.... |
1 before the Common era Common Era Common Era ,abbreviated as CE, is an alternative designation for the calendar era originally introduced by Dionysius Exiguus in the 6th century, traditionally identified with Anno Domini .Dates before the year 1 CE are indicated by the usage of BCE, short for Before the Common Era Common Era... (BCE) |
1 | (The year) One | Anno Domini Anno Domini and Before Christ are designations used to label or number years used with the Julian and Gregorian calendars.... (AD) 1 1 of the Common era Common Era Common Era ,abbreviated as CE, is an alternative designation for the calendar era originally introduced by Dionysius Exiguus in the 6th century, traditionally identified with Anno Domini .Dates before the year 1 CE are indicated by the usage of BCE, short for Before the Common Era Common Era... (CE) In the year of Our Lord 1 |
235 | Two thirty-five | Two-three-five Two hundred (and) thirty-five |
911 | Nine eleven | Nine-one-one Nine hundred (and) eleven |
999 | Nine ninety-nine | Nine-nine-nine Nine hundred (and) ninety-nine Triple nine |
1000 | One thousand | Ten hundred 1K Ten aught Ten oh |
1004 | One thousand (and) four | Ten oh-four |
1010 | Ten ten | One thousand (and) ten |
1050 | Ten fifty | One thousand (and) fifty |
1225 | Twelve twenty-five | One-two-two-five One thousand, two hundred (and) twenty-five Twelve-two-five |
1900 | Nineteen hundred | One thousand, nine hundred Nineteen aught |
1901 | Nineteen oh-one | Nineteen hundred (and) one One thousand, nine hundred (and) one Nineteen aught one |
1919 | Nineteen nineteen | Nineteen hundred (and) nineteen One thousand, nine hundred (and) nineteen |
1999 | Nineteen ninety-nine | Nineteen hundred (and) ninety-nine One thousand, nine hundred (and) ninety-nine |
2000 | Two thousand | Twenty hundred Two triple-oh |
2001 | Two thousand (and) one | Twenty oh-one Twenty hundred (and) one Two double-oh-one Two oh-oh-one |
2009 | Two thousand (and) nine | Twenty oh-nine Twenty hundred (and) nine Two double-oh-nine Two oh-oh-nine |
2010 | Two thousand (and) ten Twenty ten |
Twenty hundred (and) ten two-oh-one-oh |
Fractions and decimals
In spoken English, ordinal numbers are also used to quantify the denominator of a fraction. Thus 'fifth' can mean the element between fourth and sixth, or the fraction created by dividing the unit into five pieces. In this usage, the ordinal numbers can be pluralized: one seventh, two sevenths. The sole exception to this rule is division by two. The ordinal term 'second' can only refer to location in a series; for fractions English speakers use the term 'half' (plural 'halves').Here are some common fraction
Fraction (mathematics)
A fraction represents a part of a whole or, more generally, any number of equal parts. When spoken in everyday English, we specify how many parts of a certain size there are, for example, one-half, five-eighths and three-quarters.A common or "vulgar" fraction, such as 1/2, 5/8, 3/4, etc., consists...
s (partitive numerals):
1/16 | one-sixteenth |
1/10 or 0.1 | one-tenth |
1/8 | one-eighth |
2/10 or 0.2 | two-tenths |
1/4 | one-quarter or (mainly American English) one-fourth |
3/10 or 0.3 | three-tenths |
1/3 | one-third |
3/8 | three-eighths |
4/10 or 0.4 | four-tenths |
1/2 | one half |
6/10 or 0.6 | six-tenths |
5/8 | five-eighths |
2/3 | two-thirds |
7/10 or 0.7 | seven-tenths |
3/4 | three-quarters or three-fourths |
8/10 or 0.8 | eight-tenths |
7/8 | seven-eighths |
9/10 or 0.9 | nine-tenths |
15/16 | fifteen-sixteenths |
Alternatively, and for greater numbers, one may say for 1/2 "one over two", for 5/8 "five over eight", and so on. This "over" form is also widely used in mathematics. (This form is not common in British English.)
Numbers with a decimal point may be read as a cardinal number, then "and", then another cardinal number followed by an indication of the significance of the second cardinal number (not common in British English); or as a cardinal number, followed by "point", and then by the digits of the fractional part. The indication of significance takes the form of the denominator of the fraction indicating division by the smallest power of ten larger than the second cardinal. This is modified when the first cardinal is zero, in which case neither the zero nor the "and" is pronounced, but the zero is optional in the "point" form of the fraction.
- For example:
- 0.002 is "two thousandths" (mainly U.S.); or "point zero zero two", "point oh oh two", "nought point zero zero two", etc.
- 3.1416 is "three point one four one six"
- 99.3 is "ninety-nine and three tenths" (mainly U.S.); or "ninety-nine point three".
In English the decimal point was originally printed in the center of the line (0·002), but with the advent of the typewriter it was placed at the bottom of the line, so that a single key could be used as a full stop/period and as a decimal point. In many non-English languages a full-stop/period at the bottom of the line is used as a thousands separator with a comma being used as the decimal point.
- Fractions together with an integer are read as follows:
- 1 1/2 is "one and a half"
- 6 1/4 is "six and a quarter"
- 7 5/8 is "seven and five eighths"
A space is required between the whole number and the fraction; however, if a special fraction character is used like "½", then the space can be done without, e.g.
-
- 9 1/2
- 9½
Whether to use digits or words
According to most copy editors and English teachers, the numbers zero to nine inclusive should be "written out" – meaning instead of "1" and "2", one would write "one" and "two".- Example: "I have two apples." (Preferred)
- Example: "I have 2 apples."
After "nine", one can head straight back into the 10, 11, 12, etc., although some write out the numbers until "twelve".
- Example: "I have 28 grapes." (Preferred)
- Example: "I have twenty-eight grapes."
Another common usage is to write out any number that can be expressed as one or two words, and use figures otherwise.
- Examples:
- "There are six million dogs." (Preferred)
- "There are 6,000,000 dogs."
- "That is one hundred twenty-five oranges."
- "That is 125 oranges." (Preferred)
Numbers at the beginning of a sentence should also be written out.
The above rules are not always used. In literature, larger numbers might be spelled out. On the other hand, digits might be more commonly used in technical or financial articles, where many figures are discussed. In particular, the two different forms should not be used for figures that serve the same purpose; for example, it is inelegant to write, "Between day twelve and day 15 of the study, the population doubled."
Empty numbers
Colloquial English has a small vocabulary of empty numbers that can be employed when there is uncertainty as to the precise number to use, but it is desirable to define a general range: specifically, the terms "umpteen", "umpty", and "zillionZillion
A zillion is a fictitious, indefinitely large number.Zillion or Zillions may also refer to:* Zillion , a 1987 Japanese anime series, and its spinoffs:** Zillion: Burning Night, a 1988 direct-to-video release...
". These are derived etymologically from the range affixes:
- "-teen" (designating the range as being between 10 and 20)
- "-ty" (designating the range as being in one of the decades between 20 and 100)
- "-illion" (designating the range as being above 1,000,000; or, more generally, as being extremely large).
The prefix "ump-" is added to the first two suffixes to produce the empty numbers "umpteen" and "umpty": it is of uncertain origin. There is a noticeable absence of an empty number in the hundreds range.
Usage of empty numbers:
- The word "umpteen" may be used as an adjective, as in "I had to go to umpteen stores to find shoes that fit." It can also be used to modify a larger number, usually "million", as in "Umpteen million people watched the show; but they still cancelled it."
- "Umpty" is not in common usage. It can appear in the form "umpty-one" (parallelling the usage in such numbers as "twenty-one"), as in "There are umpty-one ways to do it wrong." "Umpty-ump" is also heard, though "ump" is never used by itself.
- The word "zillion" may be used as an adjective, modifying a noun. The noun phrase normally contains the indefinite article "a", as in "There must be a zillion sites on the World Wide Web."
- The plural "zillions" designates a number indefinitely larger than "millions" or "billions". In this case, the construction is parallel to the one for "millions" or "billions", with the number used as a plural count noun, followed by a prepositional phrase with "of", as in "Out in the countryside, the night sky is filled with zillions of stars."
- Empty numbers are sometimes made up, with obvious meaning: "squillions" is obviously an empty, but very large, number; a "squintillionth" would be a very small number.
- Some empty numbers may be modified by actual numbers, such as "four zillion", and are used for jest, exaggeration, or to relate abstractly to actual numbers.
- Empty numbers are colloquial, and primarily used in oral speech or informal contexts. They are inappropriate in formal or scholarly usage.
See also Placeholder name
Placeholder name
Placeholder names are words that can refer to objects or people whose names are either temporarily forgotten, irrelevant, or unknown in the context in which they are being discussed...
.
See also
- Indefinite and fictitious numbers
- List of numbers
- Long and short scalesLong and short scalesThe long and short scales are two of several different large-number naming systems used throughout the world for integer powers of ten. Many countries, including most in continental Europe, use the long scale whereas most English-speaking countries use the short scale...
- Names of large numbersNames of large numbersThis article lists and discusses the usage and derivation of names of large numbers, together with their possible extensions.The following table lists those names of large numbers which are found in many English dictionaries and thus have a special claim to being "real words"...
- Natural numberNatural numberIn mathematics, the natural numbers are the ordinary whole numbers used for counting and ordering . These purposes are related to the linguistic notions of cardinal and ordinal numbers, respectively...
- Number namesNumber namesIn linguistics, number names are specific words in a natural language that represent numbers.In writing, numerals are symbols also representing numbers...
External links
- English Numbers - explanations, exercises and number generator (cardinal and ordinal numbers)
- Write out numbers - automatic numbers (and sum of money) translation to English and Russian languages