Roman Numerals stand for what?

[CookingWithGas]

In school I learned about Roman numerals and how to manipulate them, but they never explained how those letters came to stand for those numbers. It’s not a stretch to think of I meaning 1. The letters C and M probably stand for the Latin for 100 (centum) and 1000 (mille). But why did they use V, X, L, and so on?

[JeffB]

Well, according to this site, no one really knows.

In some forms of Roman numbers, D is sometimes represented by an I followed by a backwards C, a bit like this I ) , and M is represented by a C followed by an I and a backwards C. This is hard to depict in a computer font as they do not contain a backwards C but it can be approximated using parentheses like this ( I ). The derivation of this form seems to be from the use of the deep parentheses to represent larger numbers. Thus ( I ) is 1000, ( ( I ) ) is 10,000 and ( ( ( I ) ) ) is 100,000.

The history of Roman numerals is not well documented and written accounts are contradictory. It is likely that counting began on the fingers and that is why we count in tens. A single stroke I represents one finger, five or a handful could possibly be represented by V and the X may have been used because if you stretch out two handfuls of fingers and place them close the two little fingers cross in
an X. Alternatively, an X is like two Vs, one upside down. Although the Latin for 100 is centum and for 1000 is mille, scholars generally do not think that C is 100 and M is 1000 because they are the initial letters of centum and mille. The use of D could be a representation of a C with a vertical line through it representing half. My own views is that M arose out of the use of () symbols to multiply by 1000. This theory is supported by the use of ( I ) for 1000 and I ) for 500. These could easily become corrupted or
abbreviated into M or D which they resemble.

I used to think the same as you about C and M, but it appears I was wrong.

[bryanmcc]

what does 6 stand for? these letters weren’t abreviations, they were the actual numerical digits. they simply chose to symbols that already had other uses for. we do the same thing: a single vertical stroke can represent either a one, a lower case ‘L’, or a capital ‘i’.

-b

[warmgun]

I’ve never been accused of huntin’ without all my dogs, but I just don’t quite understand RN’s anyway.
First let me say I agree with Bry, but some number strings seem like they can be ‘read’ several ways. IS there a definitive system?

[Arjuna34]

*Originally posted by warmgun *
**I’ve never been accused of huntin’ without all my dogs, but I just don’t quite understand RN’s anyway.
First let me say I agree with Bry, but some number strings seem like they can be ‘read’ several ways. IS there a definitive system? **

No, there was no definitive system. Here’s Cecil on the subject:

http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_375.html
Arjuna34

[warmgun]

Thank you!