[Python-Dev] re: PEP 279 revisited (original) (raw)

Damien Morton Damien.Morton@acm.org
Wed, 24 Apr 2002 08:27:32 -0400

http://www.dictionary.com/search?q=numerate

tr.v. nu.mer.at.ed, nu.mer.at.ing, nu.mer.ates To enumerate; count.

adj. (-mr-t) Able to think and express oneself effectively in quantitative terms.

Source: The American HeritageR Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

\Nu"mer*ate, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Numerated; p. pr. & vb. n. Numerating.] [L. numeratus, p. p. of numerare to count. See Number, v.] (Arith.) To divide off and read according to the rules of numeration; as, to numerate a row of figures.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, C 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.

Of course, the fundamental operation here is numbering things in a list.

list.number()

perhaps?

Unfortunatly, the noun/verb ambiguity exists with that suggestion, but...

I like numerare, it would be a fine suggestion if more of the world spoke Italian.

-----Original Message----- From: Alex Martelli [mailto:aleax@aleax.it] Sent: Wednesday, 24 April 2002 08:11 To: Damien Morton; python-dev@python.org Subject: Re: [Python-Dev] re: PEP 279 revisited

On Wednesday 24 April 2002 14:04, Damien Morton wrote: > Theres one word that was left out from the discussion. > > numerate() > > As far as I can tell, the dictionary meaning is pretty much the same > as for enumerate, but theres a much stronger association with > numbering things (especially for non-latin speakers). I think the main use of 'numerate' is as an adjective meaning roughly the same as 'literate' but about numbers/maths rather than about 'letters' (words/writing/reading/...). Didn't know it was a verb in English (in Italian the equivalent "numerare" exists, and means "associate numbers with" more strictly than "enumerare" does, so it would be perfect for a native speaker of Italian -- hardly an important issue, though). Alex