Etymology and origin of the Latin word numerator
- Confidence
- Established
- Formation
- Derivation
- First attested
- 354–430 AD, Augustine
- Ultimate origin
- Latin numerō
From the same root
Forms
numerātor m (genitive numerātōris); third declension[1]
Etymology
It is from Latin numerō + -tor, the agent noun of the verb meaning “to count”,[1][2][3] which is formed from numerus (“number”).[4]
Earliest recorded meaning
Augustine has it first, in the Confessions, of a counter of the stars (numerator siderum), and in De libero arbitrio.[5][2][6]
Semantic evolution
It is a Late Latin word.[5][3] Polish Medieval Latin calls God a most generous reckoner (numerator copiosissimus), and in arithmetic it is the number above the line of a fraction.[7] English took it over in the 1540s for a word or figure denoting a number, and has used it for the upper number of a fraction since the 1570s.[3]
Timeline
- 354–430 AD – Augustine uses it in the Confessions.[5][2][6]
- 1540s – English borrows it as numerator.[3]
- 1570s – English uses it of the upper number in a fraction.[3]
Meanings
Noun
- A counter, one who counts or numbers.[5][2][8]
- (Medieval Latin, mathematics) The numerator of a fraction.[7]
Related words
- English numerator
References
- ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
- ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
- ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
- ^ a b Lexicon mediae et infimae Latinitatis Polonorum (1953–), Kraków: Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN; electronic ed. elexicon.scriptores.pl
- ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
Cite this entry
“Numerator.” Etymologically, 24 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/numerator. Accessed 24 Oct. 2026.
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