1. The act or art of numbering. Numeration is but still the adding of one unit more, and giving to the whole a new name or sign. Locke.
2. The act or art of reading numbers when expressed by means of numerals. The term is almost exclusively applied to the art of reading numbers written in the scale of tens, by the Arabic method. Davies & Peck.
Note: For convenience in reading, numbers are usually separated by commas into periods of three figures each, as 1,155,465. According to what is called the "English" system, the billion is a million of millions, a trillion a million of billions, and each higher denomination is a million times the one preceding. According to the system of the French and other Continental nations and also that of the United States, the billion is a thousand millions, and each higher denomination is a thousand times the preceding.
NUMERATIVE
Nu"mer*a*tive, a.
Defn: Of or pertaining to numeration; as, a numerative system. Eng.
Cyc.
NUMERATOR
Nu"mer*a"tor, n. Etym: [L. numerator: cf. F. numérateur.]
1. One who numbers.
2. (Math.)
Defn: The term in a fraction which indicates the number of fractional units that are taken.
Note: In a vulgar fraction the numerator is written above a line; thus, in the fraction 5/9 (five ninths) 5 is the numerator; in a decimal fraction it is the number which follows the decimal point. See Fraction.