Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

numeral

/ˈnuməɹəl/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.77 in modern English

Syllables: nu-mer-al
IPA: /ˈnuməɹəl/

9

Scrabble Score

7

Letters

3

Syllables

7

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A symbol that is not a word and represents a number, such as the Arabic numerals 1, 2, 3 or the Roman numerals I, V, X, L.

noun

A representation of a number composed of such symbols.

noun

A number word, a simple or compound word for a number often having particular grammatical attributes depending on the language.

noun

A card whose rank is a number (usually including the ace as 1).

adj

Of or relating to numbers; numerical.

Example Sentences

"Compare the numeral for the product with the original decimal numeral."
"We use the term numeral for linguistic expressions and number for meanings. For example, five is a numeral expressing the number "5" - and fifteen hundred and one thousand five hundred are different numerals expressing the same number, "1,500"."
"Jacks, queens, and kings are not numerals."
"A long train of numeral progressions."

Etymology

As an adjective, from Middle English numeral, numerall, from Latin numerālis (“pertaining to a number”), from numerus (“a number”). As a noun, via Middle French numeral.

Origin

Source language: Middle English

Word Breakdown

Root: *nem-, numeral, numerālis

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ˈnuməɹəl/
British English: /ˈnjuːməɹəl/

Inflected Forms

numerals (plural)

Derived Forms

denumeral innumeral nonnumeral numeraled numerally pronumeral supernumerary tesseral transnumeral

Phrases

Arabic numeral binary numeral system Chinese numeral Church numeral collective numeral Cyrillic numeral Devanagari numeral financial numeral

Frequently Paired Words

digit

Synonyms

numeric numerical number

Rhymes With

humoral

Questions

How do you pronounce numeral?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈnuməɹəl/.
What does numeral mean?: A symbol that is not a word and represents a number, such as the Arabic numerals 1, 2, 3 or the Roman numerals I, V, X, L.
Where does numeral come from?: It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce numeral

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “numeral”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈnuməɹəl/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “numeral”.
Repeat and practice — Say “numeral” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.