Number

How to spell number

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce number

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does number mean?

1. nounA figure or quantity used to count, label, or measure things.

Number in a sentence

• Each invoice carries a unique reference number for tracking.

• She wrote her phone number on the back of the receipt.

Where does number come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin numerus, which meant a count, a quantity, or a sum, and which also lies behind words such as numerous, numeral, and enumerate. It passed into English in the 1200s through the Old French nombre, where an intrusive 'b' had crept in between the 'm' and the following vowel, much as it did in 'chamber' from camera. English kept that 'b' in the spelling, which is why we write 'number' rather than the more phonetic 'numer'. The original sense of a counted quantity broadened over the centuries to cover written figures, telephone numbers, and grammatical number (singular versus plural). A quirk of English homography means the same spelling also serves as the comparative of 'numb', meaning 'more numb', though that adjective is unrelated and traces to Old English niman, 'to take', via the idea of a body part being seized by cold.

How the word is built

• numer- (from Latin numerus: a count, sum)
• -ber (English form via French nombre, with intrusive b)