1

1 (one) is a number, numeral, and the name of the glyph representing that number. It represents a single entity, the unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of "unit length" is a line segment of length 1. One is the integer before two and after zero. One is the first non-zero number in the natural numbers as well as the first odd number in the natural numbers. Any number multiplied by one is the number, as one is the identity... more

1 (one) is a number, numeral, and the name of the glyph representing that number. It represents a single entity, the unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of "unit length" is a line segment of length 1. One is the integer before two and after zero. One is the first non-zero number in the natural numbers as well as the first odd number in the natural numbers. Any number multiplied by one is the number, as one is the identity for multiplication. As a result, one is its own factorial, its own square, its own cube, and so on. One is also the empty product as any number multiplied by one is itself, which is the same as multiplying by no numbers at all. The glyph used today in the Western world to represent the number 1, a vertical line, often with a serif at the top and sometimes a short horizontal line at the bottom, traces its roots back to the Indians, who wrote 1 as a horizontal line, much like the Chinese script “ 一 ”(Yi). The Gupta wrote it as a curved line,... less