The numero sign or numero symbol (variously represented as №, Nº, No, or No.) is a typographic abbreviation of the word number indicating ordinal numeration, especially in names and titles. For example, with the numero sign, the written long-form of the address "Number 22 Acacia Avenue" is shortened to "Nº 22 Acacia Avenue", yet both forms are spoken long.
Typographically, the numero sign combines the upper-case Latin letter N with a usually superscript lower-case letter o, sometimes underlined, resembling the masculine ordinal indicator. In Unicode, the character is U+2116 № numero sign (HTML: № ).
The Oxford English Dictionary derives the numero sign from Latin numero, the ablative form of numerus ("number", with the ablative denotations of: "to the number, by the number, with the number"). In Romance languages, the numero sign is understood as an abbreviation of the word for "number", e.g. Italian numero, French numéro, and Spanish & Portuguese número.[1]
Contents |
In French, № denotes numéro (number), and is variously written, with and without superscript letters, underlining, or a period; e.g. №, no., and No. Note that no is not a frequent word in French, unlike in English, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese.
Although the letter "N" is not in the Cyrillic alphabet, the numero sign is typeset in Russian publishing, and is in Russian computer and typewriter keyboards.
In Spanish, the numero sign is not a typographic symbol character, but the word número (number) abbreviated per the Spanish typographic convention of superior letters — letras voladas (flying letters) and voladitas (little flying letters) — wherein the final letter(s) of the abbreviated word are written as underlined lower-case superscripts: no and No (singular), nos and Nos (plural). Other flying letter examples are: Fco for Francisco; Ma for María; fdo for firmado (signed). The substitutive form No. is an unacceptable, ambiguous usage that might be confused for the negative particle no (acceptable alternatives in case no other typographic option is possible: Nro., nro. or núm. The dot is part of the abbreviation.[2]). The numero sign also indicates an ordinal number, 1o primero (first), 2o segundo (second), 3o tercero (third), and so on. The ª also used for the feminine ordinal numbers: "primera" 1ª, "segunda 2ª, tercerca 3ª, etc.
Portuguese follows typographic rules similar to those of Spanish. N.o and n.os for "número" or "números". As in Spanish, "No." is an unacceptable, ambiguous usage that might be confused for "no" (a contraction of "em" and the masculine singular definite article). The superscript-underlined o (o) also is used in contrast to a to indicate the gender of a title: Prof.a = woman professor, woman teacher, whilst Prof. (without a flying "o") denotes a man.
Italian typographic conventions for abbreviations are like those of Spanish, but superscripts are rarely used, except in the numero sign. The sign is usually replaced with the abbreviations "n." or "nº", the latter comprising the ordinal symbol.[3] (as in Spanish above, "primo" 1º and "prima" 1ª, "secondo" 2º and "seconda" 2ª, "terzo" 3º and "terza" 2ª, etc.
In English the abbreviation "No." of "numero" is often used in place of the word "number". In US English the number sign, "#", is frequently used instead.
The numero sign is not a standard alphabetic symbol in all European languages; for example in German, the abbreviation for Nummer is "Nr." (with full stop), whereas in Finnish the abbreviation for numero is "nro" or somewhat archaic "n:o" (to distinguish it from a plain no, which is an exclamation roughly corresponding to the English well in "Oh, well" or "Well, let's see").
On typewriters and computers that do not support this symbol, it is acceptable and commonplace to substitute it with the trigraph "No." (letter "N", letter "o", and a period (full stop)).
On typewriters and computers that support the degree sign or (preferably) masculine ordinal indicator, a digraph starting with "N", such as "N°" or "Nº", may suffice as a substitute for the numero sign, but only if it is to be presented exclusively within visual media, in a typeface and sizing that results in a passable approximation of the numero sign. Such digraphs are inappropriate for representing the numero sign in computer data, in general.
On Russian computer keyboards, № is often located on the "3" key.
In Mac OS X, the character can be typed using "U.S. Extended" and "Irish Extended" keyboard layouts by typing <kbd class="keyboard-key" style="border: 1px solid; border-color: #ddd #bbb #bbb #ddd; border-bottom-width: 2px; -moz-border-radius: 3px; -webkit-border-radius: 3px; border-radius: 3px; background-color: #f9f9f9; padding: 1px 3px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.85em; white-space: nowrap;">⇧ Shift</kbd>+<kbd class="keyboard-key" style="border: 1px solid; border-color: #ddd #bbb #bbb #ddd; border-bottom-width: 2px; -moz-border-radius: 3px; -webkit-border-radius: 3px; border-radius: 3px; background-color: #f9f9f9; padding: 1px 3px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.85em; white-space: nowrap;">⌥ Opt</kbd>+<kbd class="keyboard-key" style="border: 1px solid; border-color: #ddd #bbb #bbb #ddd; border-bottom-width: 2px; -moz-border-radius: 3px; -webkit-border-radius: 3px; border-radius: 3px; background-color: #f9f9f9; padding: 1px 3px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.85em; white-space: nowrap;">;</kbd>. However, it is easier to use the regular Mac keyboard and type right ALT / OPTION key plus the number 0 for º (1º, 2º, 3º) and the right ALT / OPTION key plus the number 9 for ª (1ª, 2ª, 3ª).
In HTML, the numero sign (if it cannot be entered directly) may be represented by № or №.
The Unicode Standard states: