natural-number variable

noun
UK /ˈnætʃrəl ˈnʌmbə ˈveəriəbl/
US /ˈnætʃrəl ˈnʌmbər ˈveriəbl/

A letter that stands for a counting number like 1, 2, or 3.

In the sentence 'n is a natural-number variable,' n can be 5 but not -2.

SYNONYMS

counting-number variablepositive-integer variablewhole-number variablenonnegative-integer variable

RELATED WORDS

variablenatural numberintegerconstantalgebra

OTHER MEANINGS

2. A symbol in math that can only take values 0, 1, 2, 3, and so on.

The teacher wrote a natural-number variable on the board and asked for possible values.

3. A placeholder in a formula that represents a positive whole number.

In the formula 2n, the natural-number variable n gives even numbers.

4. A letter used in computer code to store a counting number.

The program used a natural-number variable to count the apples.