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Mathematics vocabulary · Numbers and Operations

Negative number

Meaning in mathematics, with examples

nounCore term

In mathematics, negative number means: A number less than zero, written with a minus sign in front of it, such as −4 or −0.5.

In Turkish: negatif sayı, eksi sayı

How it is used

Used for temperatures, debts, heights below sea level and coordinates. −4 can be read 'minus four' or 'negative four'; American teachers often prefer 'negative' for the number itself and 'minus' for subtraction.

Example sentences

  1. The square of a negative number is always positive.

  2. On the number line, negative numbers are to the left of zero.

Common collocations

  • negative number
  • negative sign
  • negative four
  • positive and negative numbers
  • integerA whole number that can be positive, negative or zero, such as −3, 0 or 25, with no fractional or decimal part.
  • absolute valueThe distance of a number from zero on the number line, which is never negative; the absolute value of both −7 and 7 is 7.
  • squaredMultiplied by itself; used to read a power of 2 aloud, so x² is 'x squared' and 5² = 25 is 'five squared is twenty-five'.
  • multiplyTo add a number to itself a given number of times; for example, if you multiply 4 by 3, you get 12.

More terms: Numbers and Operations

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