number
UK [ˈnʌmbə] · US [ˈnʌ̟mbɚ] noun, verb
Also a form of numb
Forms numbers numbering numbered nummer numbre
- noun Quantity of countable things. “Any number of people can be reading from a given repository at a time.”
- noun (countable) An abstract entity used to describe quantity. “Zero, one, −1, 2.5, and pi are all numbers.”
- noun (countable) A numeral: a symbol for a non-negative integer. “The number 8 is usually made with a single stroke.”
- noun (countable, mathematics) An element of one of several sets: natural numbers, integers, rational numbers, real numbers, complex numbers, and sometimes extensions such as hypercomplex numbers, etc. “The equation e#123;i#92;pi#125;#43;1#61;0 includes the most important numbers: 1, 0, #92;pi, i, and e.”
- noun (Followed by a numeral; used attributively) Indicating the position of something in a list or sequence. Abbreviations: No or No., no or no. (in each case, sometimes written with a superscript "o", like Nº or №). The symbol "#" is also used in this manner. “Horse number 5 won the race.”
- noun A sequence of digits and letters used to register people, automobiles, and various other items. “Her passport number is C01X864TN.”
- noun (countable, informal) A telephone number. “Let's give her a call. Do you have her number handy?”
- noun (grammar) Of a word or phrase, the state of being singular, dual or plural, shown by inflection. “Adjectives and nouns should agree in gender, number, and case.”
- verb (intransitive) To total or count; to amount to. “I don’t know how many books are in the library, but they must number in the thousands.”
- verb (transitive, passive voice) To limit to a certain number; to reckon (as by fate) to be few in number. “The old man knew that his days were numbered.”
- verb (transitive, literary or archaic) To count; to determine the quantity of. “The king ordered that all his subjects be numbered.”
- verb (transitive) To label (items) with numbers; to assign numbers to (items). “Number the baskets so that we can find them easily.”
- verb (transitive, with off) To call out and assign a series of numbers (usually to people), either for the sake of dividing into groups or for counting. “Shelley numbered off the group into two teams for the baseball game.”
- verb (transitive, with off) To enumerate or list, especially while assigning numbers to.
- verb (transitive, usually with among) To classify or include (in a group of things). “Alexander the Great's army numbered an elite cavalry among its ranks.”
- verb (intransitive, usually with among) To be classified or included (in a certain group or category of things). “Her horses number among the fastest in her country.”
- noun Something that numbs.
Synonyms
scalar rime figure act routine turn bit phone number telephone number numeral issue identification number total add up come amount list count enumerate numerate keep down
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English number, nombre, numbre, noumbre, from Anglo-Norman noumbre, Old French nombre, from Latin numerus (“number”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *nem- (“to distribute, to give, to take”). Compare Saterland Frisian Nummer, Nuumer, West Frisian nûmer, Dutch nummer (“number”), German Nummer (“number”), Danish nummer (“number”), Swedish nummer (“number”), Icelandic númer (“number”). Displaced Middle English ȝetæl and rime; more at tell, tale and rhyme. Distantly related (via Proto-Indo-European) to obsolete English nim (“to take, seize”) and its Germanic cognates (e.g. German nehmen), hence also to numb.
Equivalent to numb (verb) + -er
From numb (adjective) + -er.
Webster’s 1913
- noun That which admits of being counted or reckoned; a unit, or an aggregate of units; a numerable aggregate or collection of individuals; an assemblage made up of distinct things expressible by figures.
- noun A collection of many individuals; a numerous assemblage; a multitude; many.
- verb To count; to reckon; to ascertain the units of; to enumerate.
- verb To reckon as one of a collection or multitude.
Etymology [OE. nombre, F. nombre, L. numerus; akin to Gr. Numb, Nomad, and cf. Numerate, Numero, Numerous.]
Etymology [OE. nombren, noumbren, F. nombrer, fr. L. numerare, numeratum. See Number, n.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “number”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details