Practical Number Words

Arabic fractions follow the pattern فُعُل: ثُلُث (1/3), رُبُع (1/4), خُمُس (1/5), etc. The word رَقْم refers to a digit or symbol (like a phone number), while عَدَد refers to an abstract count or quantity. مَرَّة (time/occurrence) is used with numbers to count how many times: مرة (once), مرتان (twice), ثلاث مرات (three times).

Arabic mathematical vocabulary has deeply influenced world languages. 'Cipher' comes from صِفْر (ṣifr, zero), and the concept of zero as a number was transmitted to Europe through Arab mathematicians.