There are terminologies for natural numbers, whole numbers and so on. (If the meaning of the terms can be found, it becomes easier to understand. For natural numbers, the term "natural" refers to the naturally occurring set of numbers in nature like 2,3,4 and not −2, −3, and −4).But I didn't find any information about why the numerator is called "numerator" and denominator is called "denominator".Is it just a simple terminology given by mathematicians (like "addition" in addition) or is there any special "meaning" behind these terms (like "natural" in natural numbers)?Thanks for your time. If any doubt please comment.

David Ali

David Ali

Answered question

2022-09-24

Why are numerator and denominator called so?
There are terminologies for natural numbers, whole numbers and so on. (If the meaning of the terms can be found, it becomes easier to understand. For natural numbers, the term "natural" refers to the naturally occurring set of numbers in nature like 2 , 3 , 4 and not 2, 3, and 4).
But I didn't find any information about why the numerator is called "numerator" and denominator is called "denominator".
Is it just a simple terminology given by mathematicians (like "addition" in addition) or is there any special "meaning" behind these terms (like "natural" in natural numbers)?
Thanks for your time. If any doubt please comment.

Answer & Explanation

Elias Keller

Elias Keller

Beginner2022-09-25Added 11 answers

In a fraction, such as two-fifths, "two" is the numerator, and "fifths" the denominator.
Numerator tells us "how many". The word is derived from the Latin "numerus" (number).
Denominator names the "things" we are counting. The word is derived from the Latin "denomino" (to name).

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