Spelling.School · How to spell

How to spell number

hear itnum·ber/'nəmbər/nounSounds

What it means: A symbol representing a quantity.

In a sentence: Can you guess my favorite number?

The part people get wrong

Watch for an unstressed vowel that is hard to hear. Often misspelled as nmuber or nember.

Same family: numbered, numbering, renumber, numbering-system, numerical. If you can spell one, the shared part carries to the others.

Where it comes from: The verb "number" comes from the Latin word "numerus," meaning "a sum or total." Over time, English speakers began using it not only as a noun but also as a verb, meaning to assign numbers or put things into numbered groups.

Patterns it uses: The unstressed vowel (schwa)

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