Editing Roman numerals (section)

{{Short description|Numbers in the Roman numeral system}}
{{For|the Latin names of numbers|Latin numerals}}
{{Pp-semi-indef}}
{{Contains special characters}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}
[[File:Year 1575 in Arabic and Roman numbers.jpg|thumb|Year 1575 in Arabic and Roman numbers]]
{{Numeral systems|expand=Sign-value notation}}

'''Roman numerals''' are a [[numeral system]] that originated in [[ancient Rome]] and remained the usual way of writing numbers throughout Europe well into the [[Late Middle Ages]]. Numbers are written with combinations of letters from the [[Latin alphabet]], each with a fixed integer value. The modern style uses only these seven:
{| class="wikitable nounderlines" style="margin-left: 3em; text-align: center"
|-
| {{rn|[[I]]}}
| {{rn|[[V]]}}
| {{rn|[[X]]}}
| {{rn|[[L]]}}
| {{rn|[[C]]}}
| {{rn|[[D]]}}
| {{rn|[[M]]}}
|-
| 1
| 5
| 10
| 50
| 100
| 500
| 1000
|}

The use of Roman numerals continued long after the [[Fall of the Western Roman Empire|decline of the Roman Empire]]. From the 14th century on, Roman numerals began to be replaced by [[Arabic numerals]]; however, this process was gradual, and the use of Roman numerals persisted in various places, including on [[clock face|clock faces]]. For instance, on the clock of [[Big Ben]] (designed in 1852), the hours from 1 to 12 are written as:

{{block indent|1={{rn|'''I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X, XI, XII'''}}}}

The notations {{rn|IV}} and {{rn|IX}} can be read as "one less than five" (4) and "one less than ten" (9), although there is a tradition favouring the representation of "4" as "{{rn|IIII}}" on Roman numeral clocks.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Judkins |first=Maura |date=4 November 2011 |title=Public clocks do a number on Roman numerals |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/arts-post/post/public-clocks-do-a-number-on-roman-numerals/2011/11/04/gIQAenKllM_blog.html |url-status=dead |access-date=13 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201115002205/https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/arts-post/post/public-clocks-do-a-number-on-roman-numerals/2011/11/04/gIQAenKllM_blog.html |archive-date=15 November 2020 |quote=Most clocks using Roman numerals traditionally use IIII instead of IV... One of the rare prominent clocks that uses the IV instead of IIII is Big Ben in London.}}</ref>

Other common uses include year numbers on monuments and buildings and copyright dates on the title screens of films and television programmes. {{rn|MCM}}, signifying "a thousand, and a hundred less than another thousand", means 1900, so 1912 is written {{rn|MCMXII}}. For the years of the current (21st) century, {{rn|MM}} indicates 2000; this year is {{rn|{{#time:xrY}}}} ({{CURRENTYEAR}}).