Date: 7/10/96 at 9:36:19 From: Anonymous Subject: Roman Numeral "D" What does the Roman numeral D stand for? I know the value is 500. I looked in our textbooks and the dictionary. I don't know where else to look. Please help. Thanks! P.S. I love this site!
Date: 7/11/96 at 10:23:26 From: Doctor Mike Subject: Re: Roman Numeral "D" Hello, I went to our web site (see below) and selected the Search Dr. Math Archives link to search for information on Roman Numerals. One thing I found was an annotated lesson plan on Roman Numerals by Bess Kuzma of St. Pius X School in Aurora, Colorado. Here is a selection from her background material that answers your question. Roman numerals were developed around 500 B.C. at least partially from primitive Greek alphabet symbols which were not incorporated into Latin. .......... Until fairly recently a commonly used Roman numeral for 1,000 was "CI backwards C", derived from the Greek "phi", or "I" superimposed on "O". Half of this symbol, "I backwards C", led to "D" for 500, half of 1,000. I hope this helps. -Doctor Mike, The Math Forum Check out our web site! http://mathforum.org/dr.math/
Search the Dr. Math Library:
Ask Dr. MathTM
© 1994-2015 The Math Forum