Numeronym
Encyclopedia
A numeronym is a number-based word.
Most commonly, a numeronym is a word where a number is used to form an abbreviation
(albeit not an acronym or an initialism). Pronouncing the letters and numbers may sound similar to the full word: "K9
" for "canine
" (phonetically: "kay" + "nine"). A similar example in French
is "K7" for "cassette
" (phonetically: "ka" + "sept").
Alternatively, the letters between the first and last are replaced with a number representing the number of letters omitted, such as "i18n" for "internationalization
". Sometimes the last letter is also counted and omitted.
According to Tex Texin, the first numeronym of this kind was "S12n", the electronic mail account name given to Digital Equipment Corporation
(DEC) employee Jan Scherpenhuizen by a system administrator
because his surname
was too long to be an account name. Colleagues who found Jan's name unpronounceable often referred to him verbally as "S12n". The use of such numeronyms became part of DEC corporate culture.
A number may also denote how many times the character before or after it is repeated. This is typically used to represent a name or phrase in which several consecutive words start with the same letter, as in W3
(World Wide Web
) or W3C (World Wide Web Consortium
).
Less commonly, a numeronym is composed entirely of numbers, such as "212
" for "New York
er", "4-1-1
" for "information", "9-1-1
" for "help", and "101" for "basic introduction to a subject". Words of this type have existed for decades, including those in 10-code, which has been in use since before World War II
.
The concept of incorporating numbers into words can also be found in Leet
, where numbers are frequently substituted for orthographically similar letters (e.g. H4CK3D for HACKED).
Anne H. Soukhanov, editor of the new Microsoft Encarta College Dictionary, gives the original meaning of the term as "a telephone number that spells a word or a name" on a telephone dial
.
. In some cases the use of appropriate case makes it easier to distinguish between letters such as uppercase I/i and lower case L/l.
Most commonly, a numeronym is a word where a number is used to form an abbreviation
Abbreviation
An abbreviation is a shortened form of a word or phrase. Usually, but not always, it consists of a letter or group of letters taken from the word or phrase...
(albeit not an acronym or an initialism). Pronouncing the letters and numbers may sound similar to the full word: "K9
K9
- Working dogs :* An abbreviation and homophone of canine, such as:** Police dog** Guard dog** Assistance dogs- Fictional dogs :* K-9 , the name of several robotic canines in the long-running British science fiction television series, Doctor Who...
" for "canine
Dog
The domestic dog is a domesticated form of the gray wolf, a member of the Canidae family of the order Carnivora. The term is used for both feral and pet varieties. The dog may have been the first animal to be domesticated, and has been the most widely kept working, hunting, and companion animal in...
" (phonetically: "kay" + "nine"). A similar example in French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
is "K7" for "cassette
Compact Cassette
The Compact Cassette, often referred to as audio cassette, cassette tape, cassette, or simply tape, is a magnetic tape sound recording format. It was designed originally for dictation, but improvements in fidelity led the Compact Cassette to supplant the Stereo 8-track cartridge and reel-to-reel...
" (phonetically: "ka" + "sept").
Alternatively, the letters between the first and last are replaced with a number representing the number of letters omitted, such as "i18n" for "internationalization
Internationalization and localization
In computing, internationalization and localization are means of adapting computer software to different languages, regional differences and technical requirements of a target market...
". Sometimes the last letter is also counted and omitted.
According to Tex Texin, the first numeronym of this kind was "S12n", the electronic mail account name given to Digital Equipment Corporation
Digital Equipment Corporation
Digital Equipment Corporation was a major American company in the computer industry and a leading vendor of computer systems, software and peripherals from the 1960s to the 1990s...
(DEC) employee Jan Scherpenhuizen by a system administrator
System administrator
A system administrator, IT systems administrator, systems administrator, or sysadmin is a person employed to maintain and operate a computer system and/or network...
because his surname
Surname
A surname is a name added to a given name and is part of a personal name. In many cases, a surname is a family name. Many dictionaries define "surname" as a synonym of "family name"...
was too long to be an account name. Colleagues who found Jan's name unpronounceable often referred to him verbally as "S12n". The use of such numeronyms became part of DEC corporate culture.
A number may also denote how many times the character before or after it is repeated. This is typically used to represent a name or phrase in which several consecutive words start with the same letter, as in W3
W3
W3 or W-3 may refer to:* W3, a postcode district in the W postcode area* PZL W-3 Sokół, a Polish helicopter* The Amazing 3, a manga and anime series, known in Japan as Wonder 3...
(World Wide Web
World Wide Web
The World Wide Web is a system of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the Internet...
) or W3C (World Wide Web Consortium
World Wide Web Consortium
The World Wide Web Consortium is the main international standards organization for the World Wide Web .Founded and headed by Tim Berners-Lee, the consortium is made up of member organizations which maintain full-time staff for the purpose of working together in the development of standards for the...
).
Less commonly, a numeronym is composed entirely of numbers, such as "212
Area code 212
Area code 212 is a New York City telephone area code for the borough of Manhattan. By area, it is one of the smallest area codes in North America....
" for "New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
er", "4-1-1
4-1-1
4-1-1 is the telephone number for local directory assistance in the United States and Canada. One exception is the Pacific Northwest, which used 1-1-3 until the mid-1980s. Until the early 1980s, 4-1-1 calls were free in most states....
" for "information", "9-1-1
9-1-1
9-1-1 is the emergency telephone number for the North American Numbering Plan .It is one of eight N11 codes.The use of this number is for emergency circumstances only, and to use it for any other purpose can be a crime.-History:In the earliest days of telephone technology, prior to the...
" for "help", and "101" for "basic introduction to a subject". Words of this type have existed for decades, including those in 10-code, which has been in use since before World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
The concept of incorporating numbers into words can also be found in Leet
Leet
Leet , also known as eleet or leetspeak, is an alternative alphabet for the English language that is used primarily on the Internet. It uses various combinations of ASCII characters to replace Latinate letters...
, where numbers are frequently substituted for orthographically similar letters (e.g. H4CK3D for HACKED).
Anne H. Soukhanov, editor of the new Microsoft Encarta College Dictionary, gives the original meaning of the term as "a telephone number that spells a word or a name" on a telephone dial
Rotary dial
The rotary dial is a device mounted on or in a telephone or switchboard that is designed to send electrical pulses, known as pulse dialing, corresponding to the number dialed. The early form of the rotary dial used lugs on a finger plate instead of holes. Almon Brown Strowger filed the first patent...
.
Examples
Where words have multiple meanings, abbreviations such as these are almost always used to refer to their computing sense; for example, G11n for "globalization" refers to software preparedness for global distribution, and not the social trend of globalizationGlobalization
Globalization refers to the increasingly global relationships of culture, people and economic activity. Most often, it refers to economics: the global distribution of the production of goods and services, through reduction of barriers to international trade such as tariffs, export fees, and import...
. In some cases the use of appropriate case makes it easier to distinguish between letters such as uppercase I/i and lower case L/l.
- a11y - Accessibility
- C10k problemC10k problemThe C10k problem refers to the problem of optimising web server software to handle a large number of clients at the same time . The problem of web server optimisation has been studied because a number of factors must be considered to allow a web server to support many clients...
- "10 thousand client" problem (in the context of Web server capacity) - c11y - Consumability
- c14n - Canonicalisation / Canonicalization
- d11n - Documentation
- E10S - Electrolysis
- E15EyjafjallajökullEyjafjallajökull is one of the smaller ice caps of Iceland, situated to the north of Skógar and to the west of Mýrdalsjökull. The ice cap covers the caldera of a volcano with a summit elevation of . The volcano has erupted relatively frequently since the last glacial period, most recently in...
- The EyjafjallajökullEyjafjallajökullEyjafjallajökull is one of the smaller ice caps of Iceland, situated to the north of Skógar and to the west of Mýrdalsjökull. The ice cap covers the caldera of a volcano with a summit elevation of . The volcano has erupted relatively frequently since the last glacial period, most recently in...
volcano in Iceland - G8G8The Group of Eight is a forum, created by France in 1975, for the governments of seven major economies: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In 1997, the group added Russia, thus becoming the G8...
- Group of Eight - G20 - G-20 major economies
- g11n - Globalisation / Globalization
- i14y - Interoperability
- i18n - Internationalisation / Internationalization
- L10nLanguage localisationLanguage localisationThe spelling "localization", a variant of "localisation", is the preferred spelling in the US and Canada. is the second phase of a larger process of product translation and cultural adaptation to account for...
- Localisation / Localization - m10n - MavenizationApache MavenMaven is a build automation and software comprehension tool. While primarily used for Java programming, it can also be used to build and manage projects written in C#, Ruby, Scala, and other languages. Maven serves a similar purpose to the Apache Ant tool, but it is based on different concepts and...
- m12n - Modularisation / Modularization
- m17n - Multilingualization
- n11n - Normalisation/NormalizationText normalizationText normalization is a process by which text is transformed in some way to make it consistent in a way which it might not have been before. Text normalization is often performed before text is processed in some way, such as generating synthesized speech, automated language translation, storage in...
- P13n - Personalisation / Personalization
- P23R - Prozess-Daten-Beschleuniger
- P45 - PneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosisPneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosisPneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis is, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, "a factitious word alleged to mean 'a lung disease caused by the inhalation of very fine silica dust, causing inflammation in the lungs. A condition meeting the word's definition is normally called...
- s10n - Subscription
- tr8n – Translation
- TW3 That Was The Week That WasThat Was The Week That WasThat Was The Week That Was, also known as TW3, is a satirical television comedy programme that was shown on BBC Television in 1962 and 1963. It was devised, produced and directed by Ned Sherrin and presented by David Frost...
- W3W3W3 or W-3 may refer to:* W3, a postcode district in the W postcode area* PZL W-3 Sokół, a Polish helicopter* The Amazing 3, a manga and anime series, known in Japan as Wonder 3...
- World Wide WebWorld Wide WebThe World Wide Web is a system of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the Internet... - W3C - World Wide Web ConsortiumWorld Wide Web ConsortiumThe World Wide Web Consortium is the main international standards organization for the World Wide Web .Founded and headed by Tim Berners-Lee, the consortium is made up of member organizations which maintain full-time staff for the purpose of working together in the development of standards for the...
- WWI - World War IWorld War IWorld War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
- WWII - World War IIWorld War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
- v11n - Versification
- v12n - Virtualization
- Y2K - the Year 2000 problem