number
A number (abbr. No. , Date № even #) is an identifier , which for the identification and order of objects (chapters, badges, houses, Soccer Player, ...) is used. A number typically consists of a sequence of characters from a character set . This can be a numerical sequence of digits , or an alphanumerical sequence that can contain letters and digits.
The assignment of a number or its result is generally called numbering according to DIN 6763. A numbering is a numbering in which the characters are assigned in a sequence ( e.g. ascending numbers).
etymology
The noun number comes from the Italian merchant language of the 16th century and was initially used in the original and grammatical-masculine form numero , which is also the basis of the numero symbol № , which is still used in some cases today . It was later adapted to the German written language by first adapting the ending (num-er) and then adding the double consonant mm to clarify the short vowel length of the u . Ultimately, it comes down to the Latin numerus “number, number; Rank ”, the root of which can be found in the ancient Greek νέμω “ to-, out- , distribute ”, so it can originally be understood as the“ assigned ”.
Allocation of numbers
With numbering , all elements of a set of objects are provided with (usually consecutive) numbers. The numbering can follow a property of the numbered objects (such as size, shape, age, location), or it can be arbitrary . In all cases, the numbering is unique, so that numbers are identifiers . Examples of numbering are house numbers or shirt numbers in team sports. Postal codes are a less appropriate example, since the delivery districts and postal codes were created together; With most of the numbering, however, the objects are already there and are first provided with numbers in order to be able to refer to them more easily. An essential feature of numbering is that each number is assigned to at most one unique object - the reverse case, that an object has several numbers, is less of a problem, although it is more of an exception.
The assigned numbers can also serve to put objects in a sequence (house number), to indicate comparable sizes ( shoe size ) or to arrange them in some other way. Possible purposes of numbering are:
- Designation (numbers as code )
- Identification (numbers as identifier )
- Representation of an order:
- Sequence (numbers as ordinal numbers and creation of an order relation )
- Size (numbers as cardinal numbers )
- Classification (numbers as language with meaning)
- Version numbers are numbers of consecutive versions. The versioning is common especially in software development.
- Notations : structure, order, additional information
- consecutive chapter number in a text (examples: 1.b, 5.13.2, A1.1, ...): for structuring
- Number of the issue of a magazine: order
- Serial numbers
- Rankings
See also
- Batch number
- Vehicle identification number
- Godel number
- International bank account number (IBAN)
- Vehicle registration number ( car number )
- Phone number
