Roman Numeral Converter

Do you want to convert Roman numeral to Arabic numeral or Arabic numeral to Roman numeral? If yes, then you can use your roman to number converter tool given above. It is extremely easy to use. In Roman numeral system, the lowest is I (1) and the highest is MMMCMXCIX (3999). Any Arabic number below 1 or above 3999 will be ignored, so please enter value in Arabic number between 1 and 3999.

What are Roman numerals?

Roman numeral system originated in ancient Rome. It remained usual way of writing numbers throughout the Europe until late middle ages. Roman numeral system does not use digits (0-9) to represent numbers. In fact, it uses Latin letters to do so. In Roman numeral system, we have around 7 Latin Letters (I, V, X, L, C, D, M) to represent numbers. Please see table given below.

What are Arabic numerals?

Arabic numeral system also known as Hindu numeral system. It is one of most commonly used numeral system in the world. Indian mathematician invented this system between 1st and 4th centuries. Later it was adopted by Arabic mathematics in 9th century. In Arabic numeral system, digits from 0 to 9 or their combination is used to represent specific number.

How to read or write Roman numerals?

Reading or writing Roman numerals is very easy. You need to be careful of 2 simple notations here.

Additive Notation: From the above chart, you know that each letter is associated with a specific value (Arabic number). Now, to represent an Arabic number which is not in the chart, we need to add letters. The addition will be done based on what value each letter holds. Please see example given below.

Subtractive Notation: One thing you should keep in mind. If a letter is preceding another letter of greater value, then instead of doing addition, you should do subtraction. Please see example given below.

Do we have zero in Roman numeral system?

In Roman numeral system, we do not have zero. For zero, Romans used letter N, nulla (none) or nihil (nothing).

Usage of Roman Numerals

In modern world, everybody mostly uses Arabic numeral system but still there are a few areas where Roman numeral system is still used.

• Copyright date on movies, television shows, and videos (MCMLXXXVI for 1986).
• Numbering of monarch.
• Marking of hours on clock faces.
• Generational suffix in name (Marks II, James III).
• Before main page numbering in preliminary pages of books.

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