number

Question

English - Alternative Forms

numbre (obsolete)

English - Etymology 1

Anglo-Norman _noumbre_, from Old French _nombre_, from Latin _numerus_, from Proto-Indo-European _*nem-_ (“to divide”). PRONUNCIATION * (UK) enPR: nŭm'bə(r), IPA(key): /ˈnʌm.bə(ɹ)/ * (US) IPA(key): /ˈnʌm.bɚ/ * Hyphenation: num‧ber NOUN Wikipedia en NUMBER (_plural_ NUMBERS) * (countable) An abstract entity used to describe quantity. _Zero, one, -1, 2.5, and pi are all NUMBERS._ * (countable) A numeral: a symbol for a non-negative integer _The NUMBER 8 is usually made with a single stroke._ * (countable, mathematics) A member of one of several classes: natural numbers, integers, rational numbers, real numbers, complex numbers, quaternions. _The equation includes the most important NUMBERS: 1, 0, , , and ._ * (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._ * Quantity. _Any NUMBER of people can be reading from a given repository at a time._ * Francis Bacon NUMBER itself importeth not much in armies where the people are of weak courage. * A sequence of digits and letters used to register people, automobiles, and various other items. _Her passport NUMBER is C01X864TN._ * (countable, informal) A telephone number. * 2001, E. Forrest Hein, _The Ruach Project,_ Xulon Press, page 86: “[...] I wonder if you could get hold of him and have him call me here at Interior. I’m in my office, do you have my NUMBER?” * 2007, Lindsey Nicole Isham, _No Sex in the City: One Virgin's Confessions on Love, Lust, Dating, and Waiting,_ Kregel Publications, page 111: When I agreed to go surfing with him he said, “Great, can I have your NUMBER?” Well, I don’t give my NUMBER to guys I don’t know. * (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._ * (now rare, in the plural) Poetic metres; verses, rhymes. * 1635, John Donne, _The Triple Foole_: Griefe brought to NUMBERS cannot be so fierce, / For, he tames it, that fetters it in verse. * (countable) A performance; especially, a single song or song and dance routine within a larger show. _For his second NUMBER, he sang "The Moon Shines Bright"._ * (countable, informal) A person * 1968, Janet Burroway, _The dancer from the dance: a novel,_ Little, Brown, page 40: I laughed. "Don't doubt that. She's a saucy little NUMBER." * 1988, Erica Jong, _Serenissima,_ Dell, page 214: "Signorina Jessica," says the maid, a saucy little NUMBER, "your father has gone to his prayers and demands that you come to the synagogue at once [...]" * 2005, Denise A. Agnew, Kate Hill & Arianna Hart, _By Honor Bound,_ Ellora's Cave Publishing, page 207: He had to focus on the mission, staying alive and getting out, not on the sexy NUMBER rubbing up against him. * (countable, informal) An item of clothing, particularly a stylish one * 2007, Cesca Martin, _Agony Angel: So You Think You've Got Problems...,_ Troubador Publishing Ltd, page 134: The trouble was I was wearing my backless glittering NUMBER from the night before underneath, so unless I could persuade the office it was National Fancy Dress Day I was doomed to sweat profusely in bottle blue. * 2007, Lorelei James, _Running with the Devil,_ Samhain Publishing, Ltd, page 46: "I doubt the sexy NUMBER you wore earlier tonight fell from the sky." * (slang, chiefly US) A marijuana cigarette, or joint; also, a quantity of marijuana bought form a dealer. * 2009, Thomas Pynchon, _Inherent Vice_, Vintage 2010, page 12: Back at his place again, Doc rolled a NUMBER,

Anglo-Norman noumbre, from Old French nombre, from Latin numerus, from Proto-Indo-European *nem- (“to divide”).