Etymograph

English

numeral

Numeral comes from Latin numerālis ‘pertaining to a number’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *nem- ‘to assign, allot’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*nem-1‘to assign, allot’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*nomezos1reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEnumerus2‘a number’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEnumerālis2‘pertaining to a number’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500numeral2
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1689numeral2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin numerus
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English numeral
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1689, An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding. […]: “A long train of numeral progressions.”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*nem-Wiktionary, Latin numerus‘to assign, allot’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*nomezosWiktionary, Latin numerusreconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEnumerusWiktionary, English numeral‘a number’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEnumerālisWiktionary, English numeral‘pertaining to a number’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500numeralWiktionary, English numeral
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1689numeralWiktionary, English numeral. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1689, An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding. […]: “A long train of numeral progressions.”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *nem- ‘to assign, allot’

nomadic, nomad, numb, nim, nome, naam, luma, enumeration, numismatics, enumerate, 29 more

through Latin numerus ‘a number’

number, innumerable, 13 more

Today it means

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.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “numeral”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin numerus. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *nem- / numeral

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