Definition of: numerral

(n′mər·əl, n′-) noun
1. A symbol, character, or letter, alone or in combination with others, used to express a number.
2. A word that expresses number or is used in numerating or counting.
—Arabic numerals The symbols, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 0, based on the decimal system and in general use since the tenth century.
—Roman numerals The letters used until the tenth century as symbols in arithmetical notation. The basic letters are I(1), V(5), X(10), L(50), C(1OO), D(500), and M(1000), and intermediate and higher numbers are formed according to the following rules: Any symbol following another of equal or greater value adds to its value, as II = 2, XI = 11; any symbol preceding one of greater value substracts from its value, as IV = 4, IX = 9, XC = 90; when a symbol stands between two of greater value, it is subtracted from the second and the remainder added to the first, as XIV = 14, LIX = 59.
—adjective
1. Used in expressing a number.
2. Pertaining to number. [<L numeralis <numerus number]
—nu′mer·al·ly adverb