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Two naming scales for large numbers have been used in English and other European languages since the early modern era: the long and short scales.Most English variants use the short scale today, but the long scale remains dominant in many non-English-speaking areas, including continental Europe and Spanish-speaking countries in Latin America.
The long and short scales are two of several naming systems for integer powers of ten which use some of the same terms for different magnitudes. [1] [2]Some languages, particularly in East Asia and South Asia, have large number naming systems that are different from both the long and short scales, such as the Indian numbering system and the Chinese, Japanese, or Korean numerals.
The Oxford English Dictionary derives the numero sign from Latin numero, the ablative form of numerus ("number", with the ablative denotations of "by the number, with the number"). In Romance languages, the numero sign is understood as an abbreviation of the word for "number", e.g. Italian numero, French numéro, and Portuguese and Spanish ...
In Estonia, currency numbers often use a dot "." as the decimal separator, and a space as a thousands separator. This is most visible on shopping receipts and in documents that also use other numbers with decimals, such as measurements. This practice is used to better distinguish between prices and other values with decimals.
A function with a vertical asymptote is not helpful in defining a very large number, although the function increases very rapidly: one has to define an argument very close to the asymptote, i.e. use a very small number, and constructing that is equivalent to constructing a very large number, e.g. the reciprocal.
The cardinal numbers are very similar in Spanish and Portuguese, but there are differences of usage in numbers one and two. Spanish has different words for the masculine singular indefinite article ('a, an') and the numeral 'one', thus un capítulo 'a chapter', but capítulo uno 'chapter one'.
Typically, Ilocanos use native numbers for one through 10, and Spanish numbers for amounts of 10 and higher. Specific time is told using the Spanish system and numbers for hours and minutes, for example, Alas dos/A las dos (2 o'clock). For dates, cardinal Spanish numbers are the norm; for example, 12 (dose) ti Julio/Hulio (the twelfth of July).
Empty numbers are sometimes made up, with obvious meaning: "squillions" is obviously an empty, but very large, number; a "squintillionth" would be a very small number. Some empty numbers may be modified by actual numbers, such as "four zillion", and are used for jest, exaggeration, or to relate abstractly to actual numbers.