Numeracy
[NOOM-ə-rə-si]
Part of speech: noun
Origin: Latin, 20th century
1.
The ability to understand and work with numbers.
Examples of Numeracy in a sentence
"John developed his numeracy by balancing the books for his father’s business."
"Many students have a harder time developing numeracy than they do developing literacy."
About Numeracy
“Numeracy” and the adjective “numerate” were formed in reflection of the existing terms “literacy” and “literate.” The Latin root “litterātus” was discarded and substituted with the Latin root “numerus.”
Did you Know?
“Numeracy” is an understanding of numbers. The term describes a person’s comfort and facility using numbers and mathematics, in the same way “literacy” describes a state of ease and ability to read printed text. Yet the two terms did not develop side by side: The first appearance of “literate” was in the 15th century, and the noun “literacy” appeared in the 19th century, but “numeracy” did not appear in English until the mid-20th century.
