There are two kinds of numbers; ordinal and cardinal. Ordinal numbers denote rank or position in a system, while cardinal numbers tally how many units of something there are. You can think of ordinals ...

Ordinals numbers tell you what position something is in. You often use them to rank or order things. Most ordinal numbers end with a 'th' sound, like 'fourth' or 'fifth'. However, they can also ...

A number that states how many of something. In "record 43 has 7 fields," the 7 is the cardinal number. Contrast with "ordinal number," which identifies a sequence such as "record 43." See cardinality.

(2) A number that identifies the sequence of an item; for example, "record #34 is invalid." Contrast with "cardinal number," which states how many of something.