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Roman numerals - stem from the numeral system of ancient Rome. They are based on
certain letters of the alphabet which are combined to signify the sum (or, in some cases,
the difference) of their values. The first ten Roman numerals are:
include a zero. It is a cousin of the Etruscan numerals, and the letters derive from
earlier non-alphabetical symbols; over time the Romans came to identify the
symbols with letters of the Latin alphabet. The system was modified slightly during
Roman numerals are commonly used in numbered lists (such as the outline format
of an article), clock faces, pages preceding the main body of a book, chord triads in
music analysis, dated notices of copyright, months of the year, successive political
leaders or children with identical names, and the numbering of annual events.
Symbols
Roman numerals are based on seven symbols: a stroke (identified with the letter I) for a
unit, a chevron (identified with the letter V) for a five, a cross-stroke (identified with the
Symbo
Value
l
I 1 (one) (unus)
V 5 (five) (quinque)
X 10 (ten) (decem)
L 50 (fifty) (quinquaginta)
V, L, D substituted for a multiple of five, and the iteration continuing: I "1", II "2", III "3", V
"5", VI "6", VII "7", etc., and the same for other bases: X "10", XX "20", XXX "30", L "50",
LXXX "80"; CC "200", DCC "700", etc. At the fourth iteration, a subtractive principle may
be employed, with the base placed before the higher base: IIII or IV "4", VIIII or IX "9",
The Romans used only what are called capital (upper case) letters in modern usage. In
the Middle Ages, minuscule (lower case) letters were developed, and these are now
also commonly called Roman numerals: i, ii, iii, iv, etc. Also in medieval use was the
substitution of j for a final i to end numbers, such as iij for 3 or vij for 7. This was not an
additional symbol, but merely a swash variant ofi. It is used today, especially in medical
written.[2][3]
For large numbers (4,000 and above), a bar can be placed above a base numeral, or
Symbol Value
V five thousand
X ten thousand
L fifty thousand
C one hundred thousand
M one million
The parentheses are more versatile: (II) is synonymous with MM, but II is not found.
× ×
×2 ×3 ×4 ×6 ×7 ×8 ×9
1 5
Hundred
C CC CCC CD D DC DCC DCCC CM
thousands
A practical way to write a Roman number is to consider the modern Arabic
numeral system, and separately convert the thousands, hundreds, tens, and ones as
given in the chart above. So, for instance, 1234 may be thought of as "one thousand
and two hundreds and three tens and four", obtaining M (one thousand) + CC (two
hundreds) + XXX (thirty) + IV (four), for MCCXXXIV. Thus eleven is XI (ten and one), 29
is XXIX (twenty and nine), and 2011 is MMXI (two thousand and ten and one). Note that
the subtractive principle is not extended beyond the chart: for example, IL is not used
for 49, rather this should be written as forty (XL) and nine (IX), or XLIX.
Origins
Although the Roman numerals are now written with letters of the Roman
alphabet, they were originally independent symbols. The Etruscans, for example, used
their alphabet. One folk etymology has it that the V represented a hand, and that the X
was made by placing two Vs on top of each other, one inverted. However, the Etrusco-
Roman numerals actually appear to derive from notches on tally sticks, which continued
Thus, 'I' descends not from the letter 'I' but from a notch scored across the stick. Every
fifth notch was double cut (i.e. ⋀, ⋁, ⋋, ⋌, etc.), and every tenth was cross cut (X),
system: Eight on a counting stick was eight tallies, IIIIΛIII, or the eighth of a longer
series of tallies; either way, it could be abbreviated ΛIII (or VIII), as the existence of a Λ
implies four prior notches. By extension, eighteen was the eighth tally after the first ten,
which could be abbreviated X, and so was XΛIII. Likewise, number four on the stick was
the I-notch that could be felt just before the cut of the Λ (V), so it could be written as
either IIII or IΛ (IV). Thus the system was neither additive nor subtractive in its
conception, but ordinal. When the tallies were transferred to writing, the marks were
The tenth V or X along the stick received an extra stroke. Thus 50 was written variously
superimposed V and I - ᗐ. This had flattened to ⊥ (an inverted T) by the time
of Augustus, and soon thereafter became identified with the graphically similar letter L.
Likewise, 100 was variously Ж, ⋉, ⋈, H, or as any of the symbols for 50 above plus an
extra stroke. The form Ж (that is, a superimposed X and I) came to predominate. It was
written variously as >I< or ƆIC, was then abbreviated to Ɔ or C, with C variant finally
by the time of Augustus, under the graphic influence of the letter D. It was later
identified as the letter D; an alternative symbol for "thousand" looks like this (I), and half
of a thousand or "five hundred" is the right half of the symbol, or I), and this may have
been converted into D.[6] This at least was the folk etymology given to it later on.
Meanwhile, 1000 was a circled or boxed X: Ⓧ, ⊗, ⊕, and by Augustinian times was
partially identified with the Greek letter Φ phi. In different traditions it then evolved along
several different routes. Some variants, such as Ψ and ↀ, were historical dead ends,
although folk etymology later identified D for 500 as graphically half of Φ for 1000
because of the CD variant. A third line, ↀ, survives to this day in two variants:
a thousand: the original CIƆ = (I) 1000, then (III) for 3000, (V) 5000, (IX) 9000, (X)
10 000, (L) 50 000, (C) 100 000, (D) 500 000, (M) 1000 000, etc. This was later
For an alternative discussion of the origin of the roman numeral system, for small
numbers, see "The River Mathematics" [Alfred Hooper. New York, H. Holt and
company, 1945] Hooper contends that the digits are related to hand signals. For
example, the numbers I, II, III, IIII correspond to the number of fingers held up for
another to see. V, then represents that hand upright with fingers together and thumb
apart. Numbers 6-10, are represented with two hands as follows (left hand, right hand)
6=(V,I), 7=(V,II), 8=(V,III), 9=(V,IIII), 10=(V,V) and X results from either crossing of the
Zero
In general, the number zero did not have its own Roman numeral, but a primitive form
nineteen epacts, or the age of the moon on March 22. The first three epacts were nulla,
xi, and xxii (written in minuscule or lower case). The first known computist to use zero
was Dionysius Exiguus in 525. Only one instance of a Roman numeral for zero is
known. About 725, Bede or one of his colleagues used the letter N, the initial of nulla, in
A triens coin (1/3 or 4/12 of an as). Note the four dots •••• indicating its value.
Though the Romans used a decimal system for whole numbers, reflecting how they
than does a system based on ten (10 = 2 × 5). On coins, many of which had values that
were duodecimal fractions of the unitas, they used a tally-like notational system based
on twelfths and halves. A dot • indicated an uncia "twelfth", the source of the English
words inch and ounce; dots were repeated for fractions up to five twelfths. Six twelfths
for fractions from seven to eleven twelfths, just as tallies were added to V for whole
Each of these fractions had a name, which was also the name of the corresponding
coin:
"five-ounce" (quinque
5/12 ••••• or :•: quincunx, quincuncis
unciae → quincunx)
uncia → nonuncium)
The arrangement of the dots was variable and not necessarily linear. Five dots arranged
like :·: (as on the face of a die) are known as a quincunx from the name of the Roman
several variant glyphs deriving from the shape of Greek letter sigma Σ, one variant
resembling the pound sign £without the horizontal line(s) and another resembling
Cyrillic letter Є.
guillemets ».
IIII and IV
The notation of Roman numerals has varied through the centuries. Originally, it was
whose Latin name, IVPPITER, begins with IV[citation needed]. The subtractive notation (which
uses IV instead of IIII) has become the standard notation only in modern times. For
example, Forme of Cury, a manuscript from 1390, uses IX for nine, but IIII for four.
Another document in the same manuscript, from 1381, uses IX and IV. A third
document in the same manuscript uses IX and a mix of IIII and IV. Constructions such
notation arose from regular Latin usage: the number 18 was duodeviginti or “two from
twenty”; the number 19 was undevigintior "one from twenty". The use of subtractive
1910 instead of MCMX – notably Admiralty Arch in London. The Leader Building
in Cleveland, Ohio, at the corner of Superior Avenue and East 6th Street, is marked
MDCCCCXII, representing 1912 instead of MCMXII. Another notable example is
on Harvard Medical School's Gordon Hall, which reads MDCCCCIIII for 1904 instead of
o'clock and IX for nine o'clock, using the subtractive principle in one case and not the
other. There are many suggested explanations for this, several of which may be true:
Louis XIV, king of France, who preferred IIII over IV, ordered his clockmakers to
produce clocks with IIII and not IV, and thus it has remained.[7]
Using the standard numerals, two sets of figures would be similar and therefore
confusable by children and others unused to reading clockfaces: IV and the VI; and
IX and XI. Since the first pair are additionally upside down on the face, an added
The four-character form IIII creates a visual symmetry with the VIII on the other
With IIII, the number of symbols on the clock totals twenty Is, four Vs, and four
Xs,[8] so clock makers need only a single mold with a V, five Is, and an X in order to
make the correct number of numerals for their clocks: VIIIIIX. This is cast four times
for each clock and the twelve required numerals are separated:
V IIII IX
VI II IIX
VII III X
VIII I IX
The IIX and one of the IXs are rotated 180° to form XI and XII. The alternative
with IV uses seventeen Is, five Vs, and four Xs, requiring the clock maker to have
would only appear in the next four hours, and the X symbol only in the last four
Many clocks use IIII because that was the tradition established by the earliest
surviving clock, the Wells Cathedral clock built between 1386 and 1392. It used
IIII because that was the typical method used to denote 4 in contemporary
manuscripts (as iiij or iiii). That clock had an asymmetrical 24-hour dial and used
Arabic numerals for a minute dial and a moon dial, so theories depending on a
Generally, Roman numerals are written in descending order from left to right, and are
symbol of smaller value precedes a symbol of larger value, the smaller value is
subtracted from the larger value, and the result is added to the total. For example, in
MCMXLIV (1944), the symbols C, X and I each precede a symbol of higher value, and
the result is interpreted as 1000 plus (1000 minus 100) plus (50 minus 10) plus (5 minus
1).
A numeral for 10n (I, X, or C) may not precede a numeral larger than 10n+1, where n is
an integer.[citation needed] That is, I may precede V and X, but not L or C; X may precede L or
Roman numerals remained in common use until about the 14th century, when they
usage, but is still seen occasionally. Classical numbering is often used to suggest
England with the Norman Conquest. Previously, the monarch was not known by
Outlines use I, II, III and i, ii, iii as part of their organizational structure.
Names of Army Corps.
Guitar chord diagrams.
1st XV of a particular club would be the 1st and best team the club has, likewise for
Some countries use Roman numerals to indicate months, to avoid confusion due
to differing date notation order. For example, 2/10/1948 can mean 10 February 1948
or 2 October 1948; writing 2/X/1948 will make it clear that the date meant was
actually the second one. This is also the convention used on some postmarks.
Call signs of some American television stations (usually based on the station's
Some RAF squadrons have two names; there is the standard number name and
Squadron RAF. The former is never known as DCXVII while the latter incorporates
Sometimes the numerals are written using lower-case letters (thus: i, ii, iii, iv, etc.),
first, upper second (often pronounced "two one"), lower second (often pronounced "two
table of the elements. But there was not international agreement as to whether the
group of metals that dissolve in water should be called Group IA or IB, for example, so
although references may use them, the international norm has recently switched to
Arabic numerals. However, Roman numerals are still used in the IUPAC nomenclature
different positive charges. For example, FeO is iron(II) oxide and Fe2O3 is iron(III) oxide.
In contrast, Arabic numerals are used to denote the formal oxidation state (which is not
always the same as the oxidation number) of positively or negatively charged atoms.
by capital Roman numerals, at first by order from the center of the planet, as the
e.g., Callisto was "Jupiter IV" or "J IV". Notably, the notation IV was mostly disused by
the Romans for its similarity to the first two letters of Jupiter. With recent discoveries—
Science fiction, and not astronomy per se, has adopted the use for numbering the
In Petroleum Industry, Roman numeral M is commonly used in natural gas units, such
as MSCF (Thousand Standard Cubic Feet) and MBTU (Thousand British Thermal Unit).
MUSIC THEORY
roots are often identified by Roman numerals (as in chord symbols). See also diatonic
functions. Since the 1970s, upper-case Roman numerals indicate major triads while
lower-case Roman numerals indicate minor triads, as the following chart illustrates.
Some writers, (e.g. Schoenberg) however, use upper case Roman numerals for both
seventh scale degree, the leading tone triad is diminished. Some writers use upper-
case Roman numerals to indicate the chord is diatonic in the major scale, and lower-
case Roman numerals to indicate that the chord is diatonic in the minor scale.
Roman
I ii iii IV V vi vii°
numeral
Scale degree
supertoni dominan leading
(minor tonic mediant subdominant submediant subtonic
c t tone
mode)
Also:
Roman
I II III IV V VI VII
numeral
Roman
i ii iii iv v vi vii
numeral
are often denoted by Roman numerals, with higher numbers denoting lower strings. For
example I signifies the E string on the violin and the A string on the viola and cello,
these being the highest strings, respectively, on each instrument. They are also
means fifth.
used in modernmusicology.
Modern non-English-speaking usage
The above uses are customary for English-speaking countries. Although many of them
are also maintained in other countries, those countries have additional uses for Roman
The French, Hungarian, Italian, Portuguese, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, Croat
the 18th century and the 1800s. The Italians also take the opposite approach, basing
Italian name for secolo XV, the fifteenth century. Some scholars in English-speaking
official documents). Just as an old clock recorded the hour by Roman numerals while
the minutes were measured in Arabic numerals, the month is written in Roman
numerals while the day is in Arabic numerals: 14.VI 1789 is 14 June 1789. This is how
dates are inscribed on the walls of the Kremlin, for example. This method has the
advantage that days and months are not confused in rapid note-taking, and that any
range of days or months can be expressed without confusion. For instance, V-VIII is
example: the XX. Act of 1949 on the Constitution of the Hungarian Republic.
businesses. Monday is represented by I, which is the initial day of the week. Sunday is
represented by VII, which is the final day of the week. The hours of operation signs are
tables composed of two columns where the left column is the day of the week in Roman
numerals and the right column is a range of hours of operation from starting time to
closing time. The following example hours-of-operation table would be for a business
I 9:30–17:30
II 9:30–19:00
III 9:30–17:30
IV 9:30–17:30
V 9:30–19:00
VI 9:30–13:00
VI —
I
In CIS countries, capital Roman numerals I, II and V still are sometimes used according
watts) in schematic symbols by inscribing the numeral along inside the symbol
rectangle.
Since the French use capital Roman numerals to refer to the quarters of the year (III is
the third quarter), and this has become the norm in some European standards
organisation, the mixed Roman–Arabic method of recording the date has switched to
block or house) and a Roman numeral (floor number). The apartment on the ground
particular high schools ("V Liceum Ogólnokształcące w Krakowie" - 5th High School in
Kraków), tax offices ("II Urząd Skarbowy w Gdańsku" - 2nd Office of Treasury in
Gdańsk) and courts ("I Wydział Cywilny Sądu Okręgowego" - District Court, 1st Civil
Division) - use Roman numerals. Institutions that use "Institution nr N" notation always
use Arabic numerals. These include elementary ("Szkoła Podstawowa nr 5") and middle
Roman numerals are rarely used in Asia. The motion picture rating system in Hong
Alternate forms
In the Middle Ages, Latin writers used a horizontal line above a particular numeral to
represent one thousand times that numeral, and additional vertical lines on both sides of
the numeral to denote one hundred times the number, as in these examples:
I for one thousand
V for five thousand
The same overline was also used with a different meaning, to clarify that the characters
were numerals. Sometimes both underline and overline were used, e. g. MCMLXVII,
and in certain (serif)typefaces, particularly Times New Roman, the capital letters when
used without spaces simulates the appearance of the under/over bar, e.g. MCMLXVII.
1630 on the Westerkerk in Amsterdam
Roman numerals, 16th century
C (which resembles a backwards C, i.e. Ɔ), while 1,000, usually M, was written as CIƆ.
Cs as parentheses). This system has its origins from Etruscan numeral usage. The D
and M symbols to represent 500 and 1,000 were most likely derived from IƆ and CIƆ,
respectively.
An extra Ɔ denoted 500, and multiple extra Ɔs are used to denote 5,000, 50,000, etc.
For example:
Wallis is often credited for introducing this symbol to represent infinity (∞), and one
represent very large numbers. Similarly, 5,000 (IƆƆ) was reduced to ↁ; and 10,000
Roman numerals was commonly ended with a flourish; hence they actually looked
like ij, iij, iiij, etc. This proved useful in preventing fraud, as it was impossible, for
Most uniquely, during the Middle Ages there came about a unique, more
comprehensive shorthand for writing Roman numerals, called today the "medieval
Roman numerals." This system used almost every other letter of the Roman alphabet to
stand as abbreviations for more longhand numbers (usually those that consisted of
repetitions of the same symbol). They are still listed today in most dictionaries, although
Modern Medieval
80 R
200 H
250 E
300 B
400 P, G
2000 Z
Modern Roman numerals
I 1
II 2
III 3
VI 6 5+1
VII 7
IX 9 10−1
XII 12
XIII 13
XIV 14 10+(5-1)
XV 15
XVI 16
XVII 17
XVIII 18
XIX 19
XX 20
XXI 21
XXV 25
XXX 30
XXXV 35
XL 40 50−10
XLV 45
L 50
LX 60 50+10
LXIX 69 50+10+(10-1)
LXXVI 76 50+10+10+(5+1)
LXXX 80
XC 90 100−10
Cent.
CX 110 100+10
CL 150
CC 200
CCC 300
CD 400
D 500
DC 600
DCC 700
DCCC 800
CM 900
Per rule above, IM would not be generally
CMXCIX 999
accepted.
M 1,000
MM 2,000
MMI 2,001
MMX 2,010
MMD 2,500
MMM 3,000
1000+1000+1000+500+100+100+100+50+10+10
containing overlines).
V 5,000
X 10,000
L 50,000
100,00
C
0
500,00
D
0
1,000,0
M
00
1,444,0 Smallest pandigital number (each symbol is used
MCDXLIV
00 with one line above every symbol)
2,000,0
MM
00
3,999,9
MMMCMXCIXCMXCIX Largest number
99
An accurate way to write large numbers in Roman numerals is to handle first the
Example
part of the Number Forms[14] range from U+2160 to U+2188. This range includes both
(Ⅻ or XII), mainly intended for the clock faces for compatibility with large East-Asian
character sets such as JIS X 0213 that provide these characters. The pre-combined
glyphs should only be used to represent the individual numbers where the use of
individual glyphs is not wanted, and not to replace compounded numbers. Additionally,
glyphs exist for archaic[14] forms of 1000, 5000, 10,000, large reversed C (Ɔ), late 6 (ↅ,
100,000. Note that the small reversed c, ↄ is not intended to be used in roman
Code x= 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A B C D E F
U+216x Ⅰ Ⅱ Ⅲ Ⅳ Ⅴ Ⅵ ⅦⅧ Ⅸ Ⅹ Ⅺ ⅫⅬ Ⅽ Ⅾ Ⅿ
U+217x ⅰ ⅱ ⅲ ⅳ ⅴ ⅵ ⅶⅷ ⅸ ⅹ ⅺ ⅻⅼ ⅽ ⅾ ⅿ
100 500
Value 10,000 – – 6 50 50,000 100,000
0 0
U+218x ↀ ↁ ↂ Ↄ ↄ ↅ ↆ ↇ ↈ
The characters in the range U+2160–217F are present only for compatibility with other
character set standards which provide these characters. For ordinary uses, the standard
Latin letters are preferred. Displaying these characters requires a program that can
typefaces may contain Roman numerals matching the style of the typeface in the
Programming Conversion
The following is a C++ algorithm for translating a decimal (up to 3999) into a Roman
Numerical System:
#include <string>
using std::string;
input -= decimal[i];
romanvalue += roman[i];
return romanvalue;
Games
After the Renaissance, the Roman system could also be used to write chronograms. It
was common to put in the first page of a book some phrase, so that when adding the I,
V, X, L, C, D, M present in the phrase, the reader would obtain a number, usually the
year of publication. The phrase was often (but not always) in Latin, as chronograms can