Numerically

Part of speech: adverb

Definitions

1. In terms of numbers or quantities expressed as digits rather than words, or relating to mathematical values and calculations
2. Relating to, represented by, or measured in digits, as it pertains to mathematical computations or the evaluation of quantities in numerical form
3. Concerning values that are expressed in digits, particularly in the context of arithmetic or statistical calculations involving amounts

Etymology: "Numerically" is simply "numerical" plus the adverbial suffix "-ly", and the adjective "numerical" is built from "numeric", which came into English from French "numérique" and ultimately from Latin "numerus", meaning "number". The Latin noun traces back to a Proto-Indo-European root "*nem-", associated with distributing or assigning, so the idea of a number as something allotted or counted runs underneath the whole family. The adjective "numerical" was formed in English on the "-al" pattern, with "-al" passing through Old French and Latin "-alis" before reaching English. The adverb is the more recent addition: its ending "-ly" comes from Old English "-līċe", a form of the same word that gave English "like" and "-like" in compounds such as "lifelike," so "numerically" literally means "in a numerical manner." Dictionaries use it in the sense "in digit form," as when a value is written as numerals rather than spelled out in words.

Synonyms: arithmetically, quantitatively, digitally