Definition:Arabic Numerals
Definition
The Arabic numerals are:
| \(\displaystyle \) | \(\displaystyle \) | \(\displaystyle \) | \(\displaystyle 1:\) | \(\)one\(:\) | \(\displaystyle \circ\) | \(\displaystyle \) | \(\displaystyle \) | \(\displaystyle \) | |||
| \(\displaystyle \) | \(\displaystyle \) | \(\displaystyle \) | \(\displaystyle 2:\) | \(\)two\(:\) | \(\displaystyle \circ \circ\) | \(\displaystyle \) | \(\displaystyle \) | \(\displaystyle \) | |||
| \(\displaystyle \) | \(\displaystyle \) | \(\displaystyle \) | \(\displaystyle 3:\) | \(\)three\(:\) | \(\displaystyle \circ \circ \circ\) | \(\displaystyle \) | \(\displaystyle \) | \(\displaystyle \) | |||
| \(\displaystyle \) | \(\displaystyle \) | \(\displaystyle \) | \(\displaystyle 4:\) | \(\)four\(:\) | \(\displaystyle \circ \circ \circ \circ\) | \(\displaystyle \) | \(\displaystyle \) | \(\displaystyle \) | |||
| \(\displaystyle \) | \(\displaystyle \) | \(\displaystyle \) | \(\displaystyle 5:\) | \(\)five\(:\) | \(\displaystyle \circ \circ \circ \circ \circ\) | \(\displaystyle \) | \(\displaystyle \) | \(\displaystyle \) | |||
| \(\displaystyle \) | \(\displaystyle \) | \(\displaystyle \) | \(\displaystyle 6:\) | \(\)six\(:\) | \(\displaystyle \circ \circ \circ \circ \circ \circ\) | \(\displaystyle \) | \(\displaystyle \) | \(\displaystyle \) | |||
| \(\displaystyle \) | \(\displaystyle \) | \(\displaystyle \) | \(\displaystyle 7:\) | \(\)seven\(:\) | \(\displaystyle \circ \circ \circ \circ \circ \circ \circ\) | \(\displaystyle \) | \(\displaystyle \) | \(\displaystyle \) | |||
| \(\displaystyle \) | \(\displaystyle \) | \(\displaystyle \) | \(\displaystyle 8:\) | \(\)eight\(:\) | \(\displaystyle \circ \circ \circ \circ \circ \circ \circ \circ\) | \(\displaystyle \) | \(\displaystyle \) | \(\displaystyle \) | |||
| \(\displaystyle \) | \(\displaystyle \) | \(\displaystyle \) | \(\displaystyle 9:\) | \(\)nine\(:\) | \(\displaystyle \circ \circ \circ \circ \circ \circ \circ \circ \circ\) | \(\displaystyle \) | \(\displaystyle \) | \(\displaystyle \) | |||
| \(\displaystyle \) | \(\displaystyle \) | \(\displaystyle \) | \(\displaystyle 0:\) | \(\)zero\(:\) | \(\displaystyle \)or nought, naught, nil, nothing, cypher, zilch, kabutnik, sweet Fanny Adams, etc.\(\) | \(\displaystyle \) | \(\displaystyle \) | \(\displaystyle \) |
They are used in conjunction with the positional decimal system of numeric representation: see Basis Representation Theorem.
They were supposedly invented in the sphere of influence of the Arab culture in mediaeval times, but were in fact defined by Hindu mathematicians in approximately the 5th of 6th century C.E. Hence they are also referred to as Hindu-Arabic numerals or Hindu numerals.
It was not until the work of Leonardo Fibonacci, whose Liber Abaci (Book of Abacus or Book of Calculation) of 1202 was highly influential, that this system of denoting numbers became popular throughout the Western world.
The Arabic numerals are referred to nowadays in antithesis to the Roman numerals, a cumbersome and limited technique for numeric expression which is still unaccountably and pointlessly used in the present day by some people and organizations for book chapter numbering, indexing and certain other more or less specialized purposes.
