Editing Roman numerals (section)

==Use in the Middle Ages and Renaissance==
[[Lower case]], or ''minuscule'', letters were developed in the Middle Ages, well after the demise of the [[Western Roman Empire]], and since that time lower-case versions of Roman numbers have also been commonly used: {{rn|i}}, {{rn|ii}}, {{rn|iii}}, {{rn|iv}}, and so on.

[[File:Excerpt from BnF ms. 23112 fr., fol. 343v.png|thumb|upright=1.1|13th century example of {{rn|iiij}}.]]

Since the Middle Ages, a "{{rn|j}}" has sometimes been substituted for the final "{{rn|i}}" of a "lower-case" Roman numeral, such as "{{rn|iij}}" for 3 or "{{rn|vij}}" for 7. This "{{rn|j}}" can be considered a [[Swash (typography)|swash]] variant of "{{rn|i}}". Into the early 20th century, the use of a final "{{rn|j}}" was still sometimes used in [[medical prescription]]s to prevent tampering with or misinterpretation of a number after it was written.<ref>Bastedo, Walter A. [https://archive.org/details/materiamedica00bastgoog/page/n604 <!-- pg=582 --> Materia Medica: Pharmacology, Therapeutics and Prescription Writing for Students and Practitioners, 2nd ed. (Philadelphia, PA: W.B. Saunders, 1919) p582]. Retrieved 15 March 2010.</ref>

Numerals in documents and inscriptions from the Middle Ages sometimes include additional symbols, which today are called "medieval Roman numerals". Some simply substitute another letter for the standard one (such as "{{rn|A}}" for "{{rn|V}}", or "{{rn|Q}}" for "{{rn|D}}"), while others serve as abbreviations for compound numerals ("{{rn|O}}" for "{{rn|XI}}", or "{{rn|F}}" for "{{rn|XL}}"). Although they are still listed today in some dictionaries, they are long out of use.<ref name=cappelli>{{Cite book |last=Capelli |first=Adriano |title=Lexicon abbreviaturarum : dizionario di abbreviature Latine ed Italiane |date=1912|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/pbc.gda.pl.Lexicon_abbreviaturarum_Cappelli_A_90447/page/413/mode/1up|access-date=2025-03-21|pages=413–421|chapter=Numerazione romana|publisher=Ulrico Hoepli |lang=it}}</ref>

A superscript "o" (sometimes written directly above the symbol) was sometimes used as an [[ordinal indicator]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://agad.archiwa.gov.pl/prezentacje/foto08m.jpg |title=Example of superscript 'o' used as an ordinal indicator |access-date=2014-01-25 |archive-date=2016-03-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304055339/http://agad.archiwa.gov.pl/prezentacje/foto08m.jpg |url-status=dead}}</ref>

{| class="sortable wikitable"
|-
! Number
! Medieval<br />abbreviation
! Notes and etymology
|-
| 5
| {{rn|A}}
| Resembles an upside-down V. Also said to equal 500.
|-
| 6
|ↅ
| Either from a [[typographic ligature|ligature]] of {{rn|VI}}, or from [[digamma]] (ϛ), the Greek numeral 6 (sometimes conflated with the [[Stigma (letter)|στ]] ligature).<ref name="PropN3218">{{Cite web |last=Perry |first=David J. |title=Proposal to Add Additional Ancient Roman Characters to UCS |url=http://std.dkuug.dk/jtc1/sc2/wg2/docs/N3218.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110622065211/http://std.dkuug.dk/jtc1/sc2/wg2/docs/n3218.pdf |archive-date=22 June 2011}}.</ref>
|-
| 7
| {{rn|S}}, {{rn|Z}}
| Presumed abbreviation of ''{{lang|la|septem}}'', Latin for 7.
|-
| 11
| {{rn|O}}
| Presumed abbreviation of ''{{lang|fr|onze}}'', French for 11.
|-
| 40
| {{rn|F}}
| Presumed abbreviation of English ''forty''.
|-
| 70
| {{rn|S}}
| Also could stand for 7, with the same derivation.
|-
| 80
| {{rn|R}}
|
|-
| 90
| {{rn|N}}
| Presumed abbreviation of ''{{lang|la|nonaginta}}'', Latin for 90. (Ambiguous with {{rn|N}} for "nothing" (''nihil'')).
|-
| 150
| {{rn|Y}}
| Possibly derived from the lowercase y's shape.
|-
| 151
| {{rn|K}}
| Unusual, origin unknown; also said to stand for 250.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bang |first=Jørgen |title=Fremmedordbog |date=1962 |publisher=Berlingske Ordbøger |language=da}}</ref>
|-
| 160
| {{rn|T}}
| Possibly derived from Greek ''tetra'', as 4 × 40 = 160.
|-
| 200
| {{rn|H}}
| Could also stand for 2 (see also 𐆙, the symbol for the [[dupondius]]). From a barring of two {{rn|I}}'s.
|-
| 250
| {{rn|E}}
|
|-
| 300
| {{rn|B}}
|
|-
| 400
| {{rn|P}}, {{rn|G}}
|
|-
| 500
| {{rn|Q}}
| Redundant with {{rn|D}}; abbreviates ''{{lang|la|quingenti}}'', Latin for 500. Also sometimes used for 500,000.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gordon |first=Arthur E. |url=https://archive.org/details/illustratedintro0000gord |title=Illustrated Introduction to Latin Epigraphy |date=1983 |publisher=[[University of California Press]] |isbn=9780520038981 |pages=44 |access-date=3 October 2015 |url-access=registration}}</ref>
|-
| 800
| {{rn|Ω}}
| Borrowed from [[Gothic alphabet|Gothic]].
|-
| 900
| {{rn|ϡ}}
| Borrowed from Gothic.
|-
| 2000
| {{rn|Z}}
|
|-
| 9000
| {{rn|Ṫ}}
| Cappelli notes that the T with [[umlaut (diacritic)|double dot]] is only attested for [[Spanish-suited playing cards]].
|}

[[Chronogram]]s, messages with dates encoded into them, were popular during the [[Renaissance]] era. The chronogram would be a phrase containing the letters {{rn|I}}, {{rn|V}}, {{rn|X}}, {{rn|L}}, {{rn|C}}, {{rn|D}}, and {{rn|M}}. By putting these letters together, the reader would obtain a number, usually indicating a particular year.