From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Number \Num"ber\ (n[u^]m"b[~e]r), n. [OE. nombre, F. nombre, L.
numerus; akin to Gr. no`mos that which is dealt out, fr.
ne`mein 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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From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
cardinal number
n 1: the number of elements in a mathematical set; denotes a
quantity but not the order [syn: {cardinal number},
{cardinal}]
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