Number (nŭmb&etilde_;r), n. [OE. nombre, F. nombre, L. numerus; akin to Gr. nomos that which is dealt out, fr. nemein to deal out, distribute. See Numb, Nomad, and cf. Numerate, Numero, Numerous.] 1. That which admits of being counted or reckoned; a unit, or an aggregate of units; a numerable aggregate or collection of individuals; an assemblage made up of distinct things expressible by figures.
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2. A collection of many individuals; a numerous assemblage; a multitude; many.
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Ladies are always of great use to the party they espouse, and never fail to win over numbers. Addison.
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3. A numeral; a word or character denoting a number; as, to put a number on a door.
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4. Numerousness; multitude.
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Number itself importeth not much in armies where the people are of weak courage. Bacon.
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5. The state or quality of being numerable or countable.
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Of whom came nations, tribes, people, and kindreds out of number. 2 Esdras iii. 7.
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6. Quantity, regarded as made up of an aggregate of separate things.
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7. That which is regulated by count; poetic measure, as divisions of time or number of syllables; hence, poetry, verse; -- chiefly used in the plural.
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I lisped in numbers, for the numbers came. Pope.
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8. (Gram.) The distinction of objects, as one, or more than one (in some languages, as one, or two, or more than two), expressed (usually) by a difference in the form of a word; thus, the singular number and the plural number are the names of the forms of a word indicating the objects denoted or referred to by the word as one, or as more than one.
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9. (Math.) The measure of the relation between quantities or things of the same kind; that abstract species of quantity which is capable of being expressed by figures; numerical value.
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Abstract number, Abundant number, Cardinal number, etc. See under Abstract, Abundant, etc. -- In numbers, in numbered parts; as, a book published in numbers.
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