Number Meaning
/ˈnʌmbər/Definition, CEFR level A1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounQuantity.
nounQuantity of countable things.
Sentence Examples
You can number me among your friends.
I forget your phone number.
Think of a number and multiply it by two.
CEFR Practice Quiz
Before the event, we must ____ the chairs to ensure we have exactly thirty.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Please write your phone ____ at the top of the form so we can contact you easily.
Word Origin & History
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *nem- Proto-Italic *nomezos Latin numerus Anglo-Norman noumbrebor. Middle English nombre English number Inherited from Middle English number, nombre, numbre, noumbre, from Anglo-Norman noumbre, Old French nombre, from Latin numerus (“number”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *nem- (“to divide”). Compare Saterland Frisian Nummer, Nuumer, West Frisian nûmer, Dutch nummer (“number”), German Nummer (“number”), Danish nummer (“number”), Swedish nummer (“number”), Icelandic númer (“number”). Replaced Middle English ȝetæl and rime, more at tell, tale and rhyme.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"From the ground, Colombo’s port does not look like much.[…] But viewed from high up in one of the growing number of skyscrapers in Sri Lanka’s capital, it is clear that something extraordinary is happening: China is creating a shipping hub just 200 miles from India’s southern tip."
— 2013 June 8, “The new masters and commanders”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8839, page 52:
"Number itself importeth not much in armies where the people are of weak courage."
— 1625, Francis [Bacon], “Of the True Greatness of Kingdoms and Estates”, in The Essayes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Iohn Haviland for Hanna Barret, →OCLC:
"The former FBI director James Comey has said it did not occur to him that that the numbers 8647 – which he spotted spelled out in seashells on a beach, and posted on social media – could be interpreted as a call to assassinate the president, as many supporters of Donald Trump have claimed."
— 2025 May 16, Edward Helmore, “What does ‘8647’ really mean? Not what Trump’s supporters are saying”, in The Guardian:
"Rikki, don't lose that number / You don't wanna call nobody else / Send it off in a letter to yourself"
— 1974, “Rikki Don't Lose That Number”, performed by Steely Dan:
"“[...] I wonder if you could get hold of him and have him call me here at Interior. I’m in my office, do you have my number?”"
— 2001, E. Forrest Hein, The Ruach Project,, Xulon Press, page 86:
Explore More A1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
Before the event, we must ____ the chairs to ensure we have exactly thirty.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Please write your phone ____ at the top of the form so we can contact you easily.