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Digit

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A digit is a symbol (a number symbol, e.g. "3" or "7") used in numerals (combinations of symbols, e.g. "37"), to represent numbers, (integers or real numbers) in positional numeral systems. The name "digit" comes from the fact that the 10 digits (ancient Latin digita meaning fingers) of the hands correspond to the 10 symbols of the common base 10 number system, i.e. the decimal (ancient Latin adjective dec. meaning ten) digits.

In a given number system, if the base is an integer, the number of digits required is always equal to the absolute value of the base.

In a basic digital system, a numeral is a sequence of digits, which may be of arbitrary length. Each position in the sequence has a place value, and each digit has a value. The value of the numeral is computed by multiplying each digit in the sequence by its place value, and summing the results.

See also:

Adapted from: Wikipedia "Numerical_digit"