Numeracy

//ˈnjuːməɹəsi// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Numerical skill.; Competence with mathematics and with how to apply it to practical applications; sufficient ability to think critically in a quantitative way. countable, uncountable

    "John Allen Paulos and others have asked our society to consider numeracy and innumeracy in a way closer to how we view literacy and illiteracy."

  2. 2
    skill with numbers and mathematics wordnet
  3. 3
    Numerical skill.; Ability to manipulate numbers at all, even for the simplest of arithmetic, such as adding two and two. countable, uncountable

    "The man lost all numeracy when he had a stroke, so he now depended on his wife for even the simplest financial matters, such as making change or paying a cashier."

Synonyms

All synonyms
mathematicsmathematicsoracy

Example

More examples

"Many new teachers feel ill-prepared to teach basic literacy and numeracy."

Etymology

From numerate + -cy, from Latin numerus; coined with numerate in 1959 by the UK Committee on Education, presided over by Sir Geoffrey Crowther.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.