# "No" as a contraction for "Number" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 16, 2002, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-as-a-contraction-for-number/132485 "2002-10-16T09:36:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2002, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-as-a-contraction-for-number/132485/1 "2002-10-16T09:36:54Z")
A finnish guy at work just asked me somethign that I just cannot answer. Why do we use “no.” as a contraction for “number”? My guess is that it comes from Latin or another old language that english uses a lot of words from. I’m sorry if this has been asked before, but it can be a trifle difficult to search for “no.”! ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_Wright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@Steve\_Wright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_Wright)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2002, 10:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-as-a-contraction-for-number/132485/2 "2002-10-16T10:23:24Z")
WAG - it’s short for _numero_, ablative (or dative, but most likely ablative in this context) singular form of _numerus_. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2002, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-as-a-contraction-for-number/132485/3 "2002-10-16T10:42:23Z")
I think it’s from the french _Nombre_ ---
**Author:** ![Number](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/number/32/242_2.png) [@Number](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Number)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2002, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-as-a-contraction-for-number/132485/4 "2002-10-16T12:43:44Z")
This question came up in a [thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=124068) back in July. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2002, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-as-a-contraction-for-number/132485/5 "2002-10-16T13:00:45Z")
None of those answers (or these ones) quite hit the nail on the head, but it’s one of those questions that’s easily answered by picking up a dictionary: > [@](#): > > **No.** (_pl_ **Nos.** _or_ **nos.** ) Also: **no.** number. [from French _numéro_] From _Collins English Dictionary 21st Century Edition_. In France, they usually write it “N°”. ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2002, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-as-a-contraction-for-number/132485/6 "2002-10-16T14:58:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mangetout \* > I think it’s from the french _Nombre_ When I read this my first thought was “it can’t be so” but I couldn’t pinpoint what was wrong (my French is rather rusty). After some thought (and a visit to [Babelfish](http://babelfish.altavista.com/tr)) the difference between **nombre** and **numéro** occured to me: My [phone] number is … = Mon nombre est … It’s on page number three = Il se trouve dans la page numéro trois ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2002, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-as-a-contraction-for-number/132485/7 "2002-10-16T15:11:36Z")
Actually, I think the French use _numéro_ for phone numbers (e.g. _Vous vous avez trompé de numéro_ = You’ve got the wrong number). I think the distinction is that you use _nombre_ to mean a general number (_Dans un petit nombre de cas_ = In a small number of cases; _Garçons et filles en nombre égal_ = Boys and girls in equal numbers)and _numéro_ to denote a specific number in a series, e.g. phone numbers, house numbers, car registration numbers etc. But, IANA native French speaker, so don’t quote me on that… ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2002, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-as-a-contraction-for-number/132485/8 "2002-10-16T15:13:58Z")
Hmm, thinking about it, I think it should be _Vous vous êtes trompé de numéro_, but you get the point.