digit

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[Etymology: Lat: ‘finger’] A numeric character: 1, 2,…, 9, also 0 and, in hexadecimal notation, the letters A, B,…, F standing beyond 9. Hence the measure for ‘length’ of a number, e.g. 1 357 has a length of four digits and is a four-digit number. In computer contexts the length may include leading zeros.

All computers work fundamentally in binary mode, with information represented by a succession of on/off or equivalent pulses. Mathematically these are represented, in binary notation, by strings of 0's and 1's, referred to as binary digits or bits. Various computers of the 1960s and 1970s had their storage designed with bits grouped into decimal or other digits, some designs even allowing for program-specified mixing to deal with the problems of non-decimal currencies and measurement units. Partly through that and partly through the rigours of methodical translation of binary to decimal for output, the word ‘digit’ came from obscurity into relatively common usage. (However, many people, unfortunately, still refer to a seven-digit telephone number as having seven ‘numbers’, and to its first digit as being its ‘first number’.)

Most modern computers allow numbers to be stored and arithmetically processed internally in a purely binary form, in a decimal form using four bits per digit, and in an 8-bit character form (the byte) that encompasses alphabetic and punctuation characters along with the familiar decimal digits. (See also real number; floating-point number.)

length Classically a sixteenth of a foot, or a twenty-fourth of a cubit.

astrophysics As used in expressing the amount of overlap of the Sun and the Moon in an eclipse, a digit represents half the length of the apparent diameter (i.e. a radius length), the two objects being virtually the same apparent size from Earth.

A single character in a numbering system. In decimal, digits are 0 through 9. In binary, digits are 0 and 1.

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One of the five fingers on each hand or five toes on each foot.

n. telephone number.  Give me your digits, and I'll call you.

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IN BRIEF: Any number from 0 to 9. Also: A finger or toe.

Tell me the next digit in the math problem.

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1. a toe in cats, dogs and chickens, a foot in the horse, a claw or cleat in cattle, sheep, goats and pigs. Called also a cleat in sheep.
2. any of the ten numerals in the series 0 to 9.

n

1. a single symbol or character representing a quantity. n 2. a finger or toe.

For a list of words related to digit, see:

• Limbs and Extremities - digit: finger or toe
• Quantities, Relationships, and Operations - digit: one of Arabic numeral symbols: 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9

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See words rhyming with "digit."

  See crossword solutions for the clue Digit.

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Dansk (Danish)
n. - tal, ciffer, finger, tå

Nederlands (Dutch)
vinger of teen, geheel getal tussen 0 en 9, cijfer

Français (French)
n. - (Math) chiffre, doigt, orteil, (Astron) doigt

Deutsch (German)
n. - Ziffer, Finger, Zehe

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - (ανατ.) δάκτυλο(ς), (μαθημ.) ψηφίο (από το μηδέν μέχρι το εννέα)

Italiano (Italian)
cifra

Português (Portuguese)
n. - dígito (m)

Русский (Russian)
цифра

Español (Spanish)
n. - dígito, cifra, número

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - siffra

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
数字, 指头, 位数

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 數位, 指頭, 位數

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 손[발]가락, 아라비아 숫자, 식분(태양, 달 직경의 12분의 1)

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - アラビア数字, 指

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) أي رقم من 0 الى ( 9 في علم الرياضيات) , الإبهام أو إصبع القدم أو اليد ( في علم التشريح), مقياس, بعرض الإصبع يساوي 3/4 إنش‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮סיפרה, אצבע‬

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