Meaning & use
integer
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Meaning
nouncountablemathematics
A whole number that can be positive, negative, or zero, with no fraction or decimal part.
Grammar: Countable: one integer, two integers. Do not use it for numbers like 2.5 or ½.
Patterns
- a positive integer
- a negative integer
- an integer between A and B
The numbers 3, -7, and 0 are all integers.
Write your answer as an integer, not as a decimal.
The program only accepts integers greater than zero.
Word forms
| plural | integers |
|---|
Common combinations
- positive integer
- Five is a positive integer.
- negative integer
- Minus ten is a negative integer.
- whole integer
- The result must be a whole integer, so round it up.
- set of integers
- The set of integers includes zero.
Synonyms and how they differ
- whole number
- Everyday term; 'integer' is the more precise mathematical word that also includes negative numbers.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: integer or digit? integer or number?
integer vs digit
A digit is a single symbol like 0–9; an integer can have many digits, such as 4,502.
integer vs number
Number is the general word for any value; an integer is only a whole one without fractions or decimals.
Practice
Which of these is an integer?
Choose one answer.
-4 is a whole number, so it is an integer. 3.5 and 0.75 have decimal parts, and 1/2 is a fraction, so none of those are integers.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “integer”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.