Read along with the three podcasts, or open the full dictionary entry for Number for the definition, Arabic meaning, synonyms and example sentences.
Narrator: Today's word is "Number" — noun, pronounced /ˈnʌmbə(r)/, with the stress on "num".
Narrator: A number is a word or symbol that shows an amount or a position.
Narrator: In plain English, it is a figure for counting.
Narrator: It comes from Latin numerus.
Narrator: A common collocation is "phone number", which describes digits you dial.
Narrator: It differs from "digit", because a digit is one symbol, while a number can have many.
Narrator: In a second sense, "a number of" means several, and a number is also a song.
Narrator: Maths, computing, business and music rely on the word.
Narrator: So remember: numbers count and order things.
Speaker A: What's your favourite number?
Speaker B: Seven! NUMBER comes from Latin numerus.
Speaker A: Lucky?
Speaker B: Always.
Speaker A: Example sentences?
Speaker B: "What's your phone number?", contact. "A number of people agreed", several. "They played their final number", music.
Speaker A: Common mistakes?
Speaker B: Use "a number of" with plural verbs, "a number of people are".
Speaker A: Close relatives?
Speaker B: Figure is its cousin, digit its twin, and numeral an alternative — yet number keeps its counting charm!
Speaker B: Let's use "number" in AI prompts — useful for validation and formatting.
Speaker A: How for validation?
Speaker B: Phones.
Prompt: Validate UK phone numbers in this form and show friendly errors.
Speaker A: And formatting?
Speaker B: Locales.
Prompt: Format numbers with commas for thousands in British style.
Speaker A: Could it help maths?
Speaker B: Yes, for learning.
Prompt: Explain prime numbers with examples for ten-year-olds.
Speaker A: One more?
Speaker B: Grammar.
Prompt: Correct amount and number mistakes in this report.
Number — meaning in Arabic & definition More N courses GL Dictionary