the.com/integer
the whole number that refuses to split the difference — no fractions, no apologies.
means A whole number — positive, negative, or zero — with no fractional or decimal part.
from Straight from Latin 'integer,' meaning 'whole, untouched, intact' — literally 'not touched,' from 'in-' (not) plus a root tied to 'tangere,' to touch. The same root reaches into English 'integrity' (wholeness of character) and 'intact' (untouched). Mathematicians borrowed it to name numbers that haven't been cut into pieces.
- latin root
- means untouched or whole, like integrity
- infinite both ways
- stretches endlessly into negatives and positives
- includes zero
- the only number that's neither positive nor negative
- counting origin
- humans tallied with notched bones 40,000 years ago
- named set
- mathematicians label them Z, for German Zahlen