What Number is IV? What is the actual meaning of Roman Numerals?
Long before we had the system of numbering, reading and writing, we had Romans numerals — a standard system of counting developed by Romans.
Counting with the fingers must have gotten old real quick, especially for large numbers. Also, they discovered that counting with their digits left a large window for mistakes and losses. After considering all of these, the Roman Numerals were born.
There are only seven standard symbols, and from these seven symbols, all the symbols for any large digit can be derived. This made it easier for traders to keep track of the new system. The seven symbols are:
- I — 1
- V- 5
- X — 10
- L — 50
- C — 100
- D — 500
- M — 1000
What Makes Roman Numerals Unique?
One of the outstanding things about the Roman numerals is that they follow the pattern of the fingers. This helped traders keep track of the new system easily.
What Do the Seven Basic Symbols Mean?
The seven basic symbols are vowels — kind of. You make out full digits by combining them.
I mean one. Note how I is similar to one finger standing out in a counting exercise.
