Roman numerals (Written Conventions of English)

ROMAN NUMERALS (Written Conventions of English)

The Roman system of numbers was used until the late Middle Ages, when it was largely replaced by the Arabic system. But we still see Roman numerals in special applications, especially formal presentations of years (on buildings and films, for example), in outlines and book sections, and so on.

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The system is simple:

I = 1, V = 5, X = 10, L = 50, C = 100, D = 500, M = 1000

• The largest numbers are written first, and numbers are added until we reach the smallest, repeating as necessary. This year is

MMXXII = 1000 + 1000 + 10 + 10 + 1 + 1 = 2000 + 20 + 2 = 2022

• Instead of writing anything four times, though, we skip to the next biggest number and add a smaller one before it. So we count:

I = 1; II = 2; III = 3; IV = 4 (like "1 from 5"), NOT IIII; and V = 5

1999 is MCMXCIX: M = 1000; CM = 900; XC = 90; and IX = 9.

• The numbers to 10: I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X
• By 10s to 100: X XX XXX XL L LX LXX LXXX XC C
• By 100s to 1000: C CC CCC CD D DC DCC DCCC CM M

There is no zero (0).

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(Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons; CTTO)