whole number

[ hohl nuhm-ber ]

noun

, Mathematics.

1. Also called counting number. one of the positive integers or zero; any of the numbers (0, 1, 2, 3, …).
2. (loosely) integer ( def 1 ).

whole number

noun

1. an integer
2. a natural number

whole number

1. A member of the set of positive integers and zero.
2. A positive integer.
3. An integer.

Word History and Origins

Origin of whole number¹

First recorded in 1550–60

Example Sentences

It’s two over 10, or one over five, we can write it as a whole number over a whole number.

From Quanta Magazine

Last time, you were introduced to the two-player Game of Attrition, where each player started with a whole number of “power points.”

From FiveThirtyEight

For that, we are measuring the grain weight, the moisture content, the length and width of an ear of corn, and just a whole number of metrics like that surrounding a crop.

From MIT Technology Review

You can construct infinitely many different Grassmannians by starting with distinct pairs of whole numbers.

From Quanta Magazine

For this to be a whole number, either both factors had to be even or both factors had to be odd.

From FiveThirtyEight

“Those two weeks that you wait it out are consequential for a whole number of people,” he said.

From The Daily Beast

Classify each leukocyte seen, and calculate what percentage each variety is of the whole number classified.

From Project Gutenberg

The whole number in day schools, therefore, is probably not less than 1,200.

From Project Gutenberg

Their whole number was two hundred, who descended upon Ardis, which is the top of Mount Armon.

From Project Gutenberg

The whole number of stadia from Physcus to the Mæander, along the road to Ephesus, is 1180 stadia.

From Project Gutenberg

It must be within the mark to state that at least 15,000 persons—a fourth of the whole number—perished in those dreadful days.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• figure
• statistic
• sum
• total