Definition:Arabic Numerals

The Arabic numerals are:

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They are used in conjunction with the positional decimal system of numeric representation: see Basis Representation Theorem.

They were supposedly invented in the sphere of influence of the Arab culture in mediaeval times, but were in fact defined by Hindu mathematicians in approximately the 5th of 6th century C.E. Hence they are also referred to as "Hindu-Arabic numerals" or "Hindu numerals".

They are referred to nowadays in antithesis to the Roman numerals, a cumbersome and limited technique for numeric expression which is still unaccountably used in the present day for specialised purposes.