٠١٢٣٤٥٦٧٨٩
Arabic-Indic numerals
A place-value system in base 10, with a zero.
StructurePositional — a digit's value depends on the column it sits in
Base10
ZeroYes — a true zero, holding an empty place
RegionArabic-writing world, from the Maghreb to Iran
Datesadopted from Indian numerals by the 9th c. CE
UnicodeU+0660–U+0669
Status living
Curatorial note
The middle term in the most-misnamed transmission in writing. Al-Khwārizmī described the Indian system in the 9th century, Arabic mathematics carried it west, and Europe named the result after the messenger rather than the source. Note the direction: Arabic runs right to left, but its numbers are written with the highest place first, so digits run left to right inside a right-to-left line.
Specimen
The digits, at size 56 ٠١٢٣٤٥٦٧٨٩
40 ٠١٢٣٤٥٦٧٨٩
26 ٠١٢٣٤٥٦٧٨٩
17 ٠١٢٣٤٥٦٧٨٩