| 释义 |
numeral, a. and n.|ˈnjuːmərəl|
[ad. late L. numerālis (Priscian), f. numerus number. So F. numéral (1474), Sp. and Pg. numeral, It. -ale.]
A. adj.
1. Expressing or denoting number.
a. Of words, or parts of speech.
1530Palsgr. 73 Adjectyves somtyme be formed..of theyr nownes numeralles. 1651Hobbes Gov. & Soc. xviii. §4. 346 By calling to minde the order of those numerall words. 1824L. Murray Eng. Gram. (ed. 5) I. 342 One is a numeral adjective, agreeing with its substantive ‘remove’.
b. Of letters, figures, or other characters.
1577T. Kendall Flowers of Epigr., Trifles 17 b, A verse wherein the numerall letters shewe the yere of the Lorde. 1594Blundevil Exerc. iii. i. liv. (1636) 372 The houres of the night written..in common numerall letters. 1636Camden's Rem. 355 Hee which set downe the nine numerall figures. 1690Leybourn Curs. Math. 334 The Digits on the Left Side in Numeral Letters shew the several Roots. 1727–38Chambers Cycl. s.v. Character, Numeral characters are either letters; or figures, otherwise called digits. 1840Penny Cycl. XVI. 366/2 Distinct numeral characters are found to have existed..among the Chinese, Indians, and Arabs.
2. Belonging or appertaining to number.
1607Schol. Disc. agst. Antichr. i. i. 29 The first difference (forsooth) in our new Crosse is Numerall... It is not the same in number. 1646Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. 377 Surely the conceit is numerall, and..relateth unto the number of ten. 1685H. More Illustr. 293 Those letters, in their numeral value, make just 666. 1704J. Harris Lex. Techn. I, Numeral Algebra, is that which makes use of Numbers instead of Letters of the Alphabet.
†3. Measured, rhythmic. Obs. rare—1.
1610Healey St. Aug. Citie of God (1620) 51 In the feasts of Cybele was much of this numerall musicke.
B. n.
1. A word expressing a number.
1530Palsgr. 367 Annotacyons to knowe all maner sortes of numeralles in the Frenche tonge. 1591Percivall Sp. Dict. B iij, Of Primitiues the numerals are especially worth the noting. 1678Phillips s.v., Cardinal numerals, are those which express the number of things. 1872Morris Eng. Accid. 110 Numbers may be considered under their divisions—Cardinal, Ordinal, and Indefinite Numerals.
2. A figure or character (or a group of these) denoting a number.
1686R. H. Obs. conc. Chinese Charac. in Misc. Curiosa (1708) III. 219 Marks methodically disposed like Letters in a literal, or like Numbers in a Numeral. 1741Wilford's Mem. & Charac. App. 43 The Figures direct to the Pages of the Book. The Numerals to those of the Appendix. 1758Gentl. Mag. XXVIII. 56 The Roman numerals..are yet retained in use in some cases. 1842Dickens Amer. Notes (1850) 34/1 These boys are divided into four classes, each denoted by a numeral, worn on a badge upon the arm. 1884Encycl. Brit. XVII. 625/2 The letters of the alphabet themselves came to be used as numerals.
transf.1874G. J. Whyte-Melville Uncle John xxi, It is hardly possible..to conceive how a man loses his own identity [in prison] when he becomes a numeral.
3. Eccl. (See quot.)
1853Rock Ch. of Fathers III. ii. ii. 19 The ‘numeral’ was a calendar or directory which told the variations in the canonical hours and in the mass, caused by saints'-days and festivals. |