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Basic Math

Numerical Prefixes

A curious set of unusual words are adjectives and nouns that reflect numerical values or multiples. What do you call a group of eleven musicians? An athletic competition with six events? An event that recurs every twenty years? It can be very difficult to figure out what sort of prefix to use, and there are plenty of exceptions to the rules. Because many of these words aren't found in many dictionaries (particularly as the relevant number gets larger), having some general principles can help.

Here are the basics:

Prefix Prefix meaning Sample words
uni- 1 unicorn: mythical creature with one horn
mono- 1 monorail: train that runs on one track
bi- 2 bicycle: two-wheeled vehicle
tri- 3 triceratops: three-horned dinosaur
quadr- 4 quadruped: four-footed animal
quint- 5 quintuplets: five babies born at a single birth
penta- 5 pentagon: figure with five sides
hex- 6 hexapod: having six legs, an insect, for example
sex- 6 sextet: group of six musicians
hept- 7 heptathlon: athletic contest with seven events
sept- 7 septuplets: seven babies at a single birth
octo- 8 octopus: sea creature with eight arms
novem- 9 novena: prayers said over nine days
deka- or deca- 10 decade: a period of 10 years
cent- hundred century: a period of 100 years
hecto- hundred hectogram: 100 grams
milli- thousand millennium: a period of 1,000 years
kilo- thousand kilogram: 1,000 grams
mega- million megaton: one million tons
giga- billion gigabyte: one billion bytes

source: http://www.factmonster.com
Latin-Prefixed Numerical Words
 
Numeral Prefix Base Relation Music Multiple Yearly Sides
1
unus uni N/A unary (solo) (single) (annual) unilateral
2
duo bi/duo binal binary duet duple/double biennial bilateral
3
tres, tria tri trial, tertial trinary, ternary trio triple/treble triennial trilateral
4
quattuor quadri/quart quartal quaternary quartet quadruple quadriennial quadrilateral
5
quinque quinque/quint quintal quinary, quinquenary quintet quintuple quinquennial quinquelateral
6
sex sex(t), se sextal senary, sexenary sextet sextuple sexennial *sexilateral
7
septem sep(t) septimal septenary septet septuple septennial septilateral
8
octo oct octal, octaval octonary octet octuple octennial octilateral
9
novem nonus/novem nonal nonary nonet nonuple, noncuple novennial *nonilateral
10
decem dec(a), de decimal denary dectet decuple decennial *decilateral
11
undecim undec, unde undecimal undenary *undectet *undecuple undecennial *undecilateral
12
duodecim duodec, duode duodecimal duodenary *duodectet duodecuple duodecennial *duodecilateral
Prime Numbers

A number is called prime if its only factors are one and itself.

A prime number has only two factors: 1 and itself.
A composite number has more than two factors.
The number 1 is neither prime nor composite.

Many numbers can be made by multiplying smaller numbers together. For example -
3 x 7 = 21
- 3 and 7 are called factors of 21. But some numbers cannot be made in this way and these are called prime numbers. For example, 23 is a prime number because it cannot be made by multiplying together smaller numbers. Numbers like 21 which are not prime are sometimes called composite numbers.

All prime numbers, apart from 2, are odd numbers.

The first twelve prime numbers are - 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19, 23, 29, 31, 37

What is the largest prime number?
Click here to find out.
Multiplication Tables
×
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
2
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
22
24
26
28
30
3
0
3
6
9
12
15
18
21
24
27
30
33
36
39
42
45
4
0
4
8
12
16
20
24
28
32
36
40
44
48
52
56
60
5
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
55
60
65
70
75
6
0
6
12
18
24
30
36
42
48
54
60
66
72
78
84
90
7
0
7
14
21
28
35
42
49
56
63
70
77
84
91
98
105
8
0
8
16
24
32
40
48
56
64
72
80
88
96
104
112
120
9
0
9
18
27
36
45
54
63
72
81
90
99
108
117
126
135
10
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
110
120
130
140
150
11
0
11
22
33
44
55
66
77
88
99
110
121
132
143
154
165
12
0
12
24
36
48
60
72
84
96
108
120
132
144
156
168
180
13
0
13
26
39
52
65
78
91
104
117
130
143
156
169
182
195
14
0
14
28
42
56
70
84
98
112
126
140
154
168
182
196
210
15
0
15
30
45
60
75
90
105
120
135
150
165
180
195
210
225
Roman Numerals

The Romans were active in trade and commerce, and from the time of learning to write they needed a way to indicate numbers. The system they developed lasted many centuries, and still sees some specialized use today.

Roman numerals traditionally indicate the order of rulers or ships who share the same name (i.e. Queen Elizabeth II). They are also sometimes still used in the publishing industry for copyright dates, and on cornerstones and gravestones when the owner of a building or the family of the deceased wishes to create an impression of classical dignity. The Roman numbering system also lives on in our languages, which still use Latin word roots to express numerical ideas. A few examples: unilateral, duo, quadricep, septuagenarian, decade, milliliter.

The big differences between Roman and Arabic numerals (the ones we use today) are that Romans didn't have a symbol for zero, and that numeral placement within a number can sometimes indicate subtraction rather than addition.

Here are the basics:
I The easiest way to note down a number is to make that many marks - little I's. Thus I means 1, II means 2, III means 3. However, four strokes seemed like too many....
V So the Romans moved on to the symbol for 5 - V. Placing I in front of the V - or placing any smaller number in front of any larger number - indicates subtraction. So IV means 4. After V comes a series of additions - VI means 6, VII means 7, VIII means 8.
X X means 10. But wait - what about 9? Same deal. IX means to subtract I from X, leaving 9. Numbers in the teens, twenties and thirties follow the same form as the first set, only with X's indicating the number of tens. So XXXI is 31, and XXIV is 24.
L L means 50. Based on what you've learned, I bet you can figure out what 40 is. If you guessed XL, you're right = 10 subtracted from 50. And thus 60, 70, and 80 are LX, LXX and LXXX.
C C stands for centum, the Latin word for 100. A centurion led 100 men. We still use this in words like "century" and "cent." The subtraction rule means 90 is written as XC. Like the X's and L's, the C's are tacked on to the beginning of numbers to indicate how many hundreds there are: CCCLXIX is 369.
D D stands for 500. As you can probably guess by this time, CD means 400. So CDXLVIII is 448. (See why we switched systems?)
M M is 1,000. You see a lot of Ms because Roman numerals are used a lot to indicate dates.
V Larger numbers were indicated by putting a horizontal line over them, which meant to multiply the number by 1,000. Hence the V at left has a line over the top, which means 5,000. This usage is no longer current, because the largest numbers usually expressed in the Roman system are dates, as discussed above.
Roman Numeral Table
1 I 14 XIV 27 XXVII 150 CL
2 II 15 XV 28 XXVIII 200 CC
3 III 16 XVI 29 XXIX 300 CCC
4 IV 17 XVII 30 XXX 400 CD
5 V 18 XVIII 31 XXXI 500 D
6 VI 19 XIX 40 XL 600 DC
7 VII 20 XX 50 L 700 DCC
8 VIII 21 XXI 60 LX 800 DCCC
9 IX 22 XXII 70 LXX 900 CM
10 X 23 XXIII 80 LXXX 1000 M
11 XI 24 XXIV 90 XC 1600 MDC
12 XII 25 XV 100 C 1700 MDCC
13 XIII 26 XVI 101 CI 1900 MCM

Check out the Roman Numeral Conversion Tables below:
Numerical 1-1449 | Numerical 1450-2100 | Alphabetical 1450-2010
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