Literary notes about number (AI summary)
In literature, the word “number” transcends its basic mathematical meaning, functioning both as a measure of quantity and as a symbol laden with cultural, social, and even mystical significance. In sacred texts and ancient epics, “number” is used to denote prescribed counts and ritual measures, as seen in the detailed ceremonies of the Bible ([1]) and the enumeration of stanzas in the Mahabharata ([2]). Beyond these ceremonial contexts, authors apply the term in practical and technical settings—whether describing the precise measurement of chemicals ([3]) or the calculated arrangements of military forces and civic structures ([4], [5]). At times, “number” also serves a more figurative role to emphasize the magnitude of disappointment or social grouping, as when Henry James notes a “large number” of disillusioned individuals ([6]) or when Plato and Rousseau invoke it to symbolize order and collective existence ([7], [8]). Thus, across genres and epochs, “number” operates as both a quantitative tool and a narrative device that deepens the reader’s understanding of societal structures and human experiences.
- , according to the number and ceremonies prescribed for every thing, continually before the Lord.
— from The Bible, Douay-Rheims, Complete - The number of slokas composed (in this) by Vyasa of true knowledge is three thousand, three hundred and twenty.
— from The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 1 - Express the result as the number of cc. of N/10 alkali required to neutralize the acidity of 100 grams of the sample.
— from All About Coffee by William H. Ukers - The men therefore sat down, in number about five thousand.
— from The Bible, Douay-Rheims, Complete - They were thirty in number, and very skillful in riding on horses, and were intrusted with the government of the cities of Gilead.
— from Antiquities of the Jews by Flavius Josephus - I call it a regular fraud if they are going to introduce any considerable changes; there’ll be a large number disappointed in that case.”
— from The Portrait of a Lady — Volume 1 by Henry James - Ideas of number, order, harmony, development may also be said to enter into it.
— from The Republic of Plato by Plato - The body of the magistrate may be composed of a greater or a less number of members.
— from The Social Contract & Discourses by Jean-Jacques Rousseau