A numeronym is a number-based word. Most commonly, a numeronym is a word where a number is used to form an

abbreviation An abbreviation (from Latin ''brevis'', meaning ''short'') is a shortened form of a word or phrase, by any method. It may consist of a group of letters or words taken from the full version of the word or phrase; for example, the word ''abbrevia ...

(albeit not an

acronym An acronym is a word or name formed from the initial components of a longer name or phrase. Acronyms are usually formed from the initial letters of words, as in ''NATO'' (''North Atlantic Treaty Organization''), but sometimes use syllables, as ...

or an

initialism An acronym is a word or name formed from the initial components of a longer name or phrase. Acronyms are usually formed from the initial letters of words, as in ''NATO'' (''North Atlantic Treaty Organization''), but sometimes use syllables, as ...

). Pronouncing the letters and numbers may sound similar to the full word, as in " K9" (pronounced "kay-nine") for " canine, relating to

dogs The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it is derived from the extinct Pleistocene wolf, and the modern wolf is the dog's nearest living relative. Do ...

". Alternatively, letters between the first and last letters of a word may be replaced by a number representing the number of letters omitted, such as in "i18n" for "

internationalization In economics, internationalization or internationalisation is the process of increasing involvement of enterprises in international markets, although there is no agreed definition of internationalization. Internationalization is a crucial strateg ...

" where "18" stands in for the word's middle eighteen letters (" ternationalizatio ). Sometimes the last letter is also counted and omitted. These word shortenings are sometimes called ''alphanumeric acronyms'', ''alphanumeric abbreviations'', or ''numerical contractions''. 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 (DEC ), using the trademark Digital, was a major American company in the computer industry from the 1960s to the 1990s. The company was co-founded by Ken Olsen and Harlan Anderson in 1957. Olsen was president unt ...

(DEC) employee Jan Scherpenhuizen by a system administrator because his

surname In some cultures, a surname, family name, or last name is the portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family, tribe or community. Practices vary by culture. The family name may be placed at either the start of a person's full name ...

was too long to be an account name. By 1985, colleagues who found Jan's name unpronounceable often referred to him verbally as "S12n" (''ess-twelve-en''). 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 The World Wide Web (WWW), commonly known as the Web, is an information system enabling documents and other web resources to be accessed over the Internet. Documents and downloadable media are made available to the network through web se ...

) or

W3C The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is the main international standards organization for the World Wide Web. Founded in 1994 and led by Tim Berners-Lee, the consortium is made up of member organizations that maintain full-time staff working to ...

(

World Wide Web Consortium The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is the main international standards organization for the World Wide Web. Founded in 1994 and led by Tim Berners-Lee, the consortium is made up of member organizations that maintain full-time staff working to ...

). Some numeronyms are composed entirely of numbers, such as "

212 Year 212 (Roman numerals, CCXII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Asper and Camilius (or, less frequently, year 965 '' ...

" for "

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

er", "

4-1-1 4-1-1 is a telephone number for local directory assistance in Canada and the United States. Until the early 1980s, 4-1-1 and the related 1-1-3 number were free to call in most states. In the United States, the service is common known as “infor ...

" for "information", "

9-1-1 , usually written 911, is an emergency telephone number for the United States, Canada, Mexico, Panama, Palau, Argentina, Philippines, Jordan, as well as the North American Numbering Plan (NANP), one of eight N11 codes. Like other emergency nu ...

" for "help", "

101 101 may refer to: * 101 (number), the number * AD 101, a year in the 2nd century AD * 101 BC, a year in the 2nd century BC It may also refer to: Entertainment * ''101'' (album), a live album and documentary by Depeche Mode * "101" (song), a ...

" for "basic introduction to a subject", and "

420 420 may refer to: * 420 (number) * 420 (cannabis culture), informal reference to cannabis use and celebrations on April 20 **California Senate Bill 420 or the Medical Marijuana Program Act *AD 420, a year in the 5th century of the Julian calendar * ...

" for "Cannabis". 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 or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Chapter or title numbers of some jurisdictions' statutes have become numeronyms, for example 5150 and

187 Year 187 ( CLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Quintius and Aelianus (or, less frequently, year 940 ''Ab urbe c ...

from California's penal code. Largely because the production of many American movies and television programs are based in California, usage of these terms has spread beyond its original location and user population. Anne H. Soukhanov, editor of the '' 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/numpad.

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

globalization Globalization, or globalisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is the process of interaction and integration among people, companies, and governments worldwide. The term ''globalization'' first appeared in the early 20t ...

. In some cases, the use of appropriate case makes it easier to distinguish between letters such as uppercase "I" (eye) and lowercase "l" (el). * 143 – I love you *

– slang for "murder", based on section 187 of the California Penal Code. * 520 – I love you (one of many numeronyms used in Chinese Internet Slang) *

8′46″ 8 minutes 46 seconds (8:46) is a symbol of police brutality that originated from the murder of George Floyd on May 25, 2020, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. Derek Chauvin, a police officer, knelt on Floyd's neck, asphyxiating him. The ...

– The length of time associated with the

murder of George Floyd On , George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, was murdered in the U.S. city of Minneapolis by Derek Chauvin, a 44-year-old white police officer. Floyd had been arrested on suspicion of using a counterfeit $20 bill. Chauvin knelt on Floyd's n ...

(May 25, 2020 in Minneapolis). * E15 – The Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland *

g11n In computing, internationalization and localization (American) or internationalisation and localisation (British English), often abbreviated i18n and L10n, are means of adapting computer software to different languages, regional peculiarities and ...

– globalisation / globalization * i14y – interoperability * a11y – accessibility *

m12n XHTML modularization is a methodology for producing modularized markup languages in a number of different schema languages (currently DTDs, XML Schema and Relax NG) so that the modules can easily be plugged together to create markup languages. Alt ...

– modularisation / modularization *p13n –

personalization Personalization (broadly known as customization) consists of tailoring a service or a product to accommodate specific individuals, sometimes tied to groups or segments of individuals. A wide variety of organizations use personalization to improv ...

*s5n – shorten *h7k – hyperlink *l10n – localisation *i18n –

*a16z – Andreessen Horowitz *64 –

Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 The Tiananmen Square protests, known in Chinese as the June Fourth Incident (), were student-led demonstrations held in Tiananmen Square, Beijing during 1989. In what is known as the Tiananmen Square Massacre, or in Chinese the June Fourth ...

*K8s – Kubernetes * sk8r –

Skater Skater may refer to: Sports *Someone who practices skateboarding *Someone who practices roller skating *Someone who practices inline skating * Someone who practices ice skating *An ice hockey player who is not a goaltender *Skater (subculture), ...

*o11y – Observability *c12s –

Communications Communication (from la, communicare, meaning "to share" or "to be in relation with") is usually defined as the transmission of information. The term may also refer to the message communicated through such transmissions or the field of inquir ...

*c14n – Canonicalization

References

{{Reflist Numbers Abbreviations

Examples

See also

References