NUMBER

NUMBER1 A concept associated with quantity, size, measurement, etc., and represented by a word such as three, a symbol such as 3, a group of words such as eighty-three point five, or a group of symbols such as 83.5. Every number, regardless of the language in which it is expressed, occupies a unique position in a series, such as 3 in the series 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, …, enabling it to be used in such arithmetical processes as addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. There are two basic kinds of number in such languages as English and French: cardinal numbers (the term deriving ultimately from Latin cardo/cardinis a hinge: that is, something on which other things turn or depend), denoting quantity and not order (as in 1, 2, 3, 4); and ordinal numbers (the term deriving ultimately from Latin ordo/ordinis order), denoting relative position in a sequence (as in 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th). Grammatically, the number system of a language contrasts with its system of quantifiers: for example, one house with a house, and two/three/forty people, etc., with some people, several people, and many people, etc.

Numbers as words

A spoken number is a WORD or phrase in a language, but a written number may be realized as either a word or phrase or a symbol or groups of symbols, usually a figure such as 1, 2, 12, 21. Written words are generally used for low numbers, from one to ten or twelve (as in the phrases three blind mice, the seven wonders of the world, and the twelve signs of the Zodiac). They are also often used for numbers up to 100 (with hyphenation for compound forms such as twenty-one and eighty-three) and for large round figures as in a thousand years and four million visitors a year. Words may or may not be used to express percentages, which may be given as ten per cent, 10 per cent, or 10% depending on house style or personal preference. Most house styles and editors aim for consistency in whichever forms they have chosen.

Numbers as symbols

Arabic figures are commonly used for numbers above ten or twelve (as in The ship sank with the loss of 18 lives), before abbreviations (as in 8 pm for eight o'clock in the evening, 7K for seven thousand, and 3m for three million), and for dates, addresses, and exact sums of money. Large numbers such as 118,985 are usually given as figures; when spoken, there is one significant difference between British and American usage: BrE always has and after hundred, as in one hundred and eighteen thousand, nine hundred and eighty-five, while AmE generally does not, as in one hundred eighteen thousand, nine hundred eighty-five. In large numbers, commas are generally used after the figures representing millions and thousands (1,345,905), but spaces are also, perhaps increasingly, used for this purpose (1 345 905); commas or spaces may or may not be used for thousands alone (2,345 and 2 345), for which solid numbers are also common (2345). Telephone numbers are generally written with spaces between regional and local numbers (01223 245999), and reference numbers are generally solid (N707096). Plural s after a set of numbers is often preceded by an apostrophe, as in 3's and 4's or the 1980's, but many house styles and individuals now favour 3s and 4s and the 1980s.

Numbers in -illion

Formerly, BrE and AmE differed greatly in their use of numbers representing multiples of million: for example, in Britain, France, and Germany, billion was ‘one million million’, or 10¹² (10 to the power 12), while in the US and Canada it was ‘one thousand million’ or 10⁹. The North American equivalent to the British billion was the trillion. In the last decades of the 20c, however, the North American use has become universal, providing the set million, billion, trillion, quadrillion, quintillion, sextillion, septillion, octillion, nonillion, decillion. The -illion pattern has prompted some word-play, especially in AmE, that makes use of various initial consonants and syllables: ‘The savings-and-loan industry bailout, which as of yesterday afternoon was expected to cost taxpayers $752.6 trillion skillion, is now expected to cost $964.3 hillion jillion bazillion’ ( Dave Barry, ‘Give or Take a Whomptillion’, International Herald Tribune, 13 June 1990). The widely-used zillion, with its end-of-alphabet prefix, usually suggests the ultimate in facetious scale, but Barry's ba-adds even more force. See LETTER 1, QUANTIFIER.