Roman Numerals 1 to 100 | Definition, Chart, Conversion List

Roman numerals are an ancient number system, originally introduced by the Romans. This ancient number system uses the English alphabet to represent different numbers. All the numbers are pre-defined with a specific alphabet. For example, I is used to denote 1, V is used to denote 5, X is used to denote 10, L is used to denote 50, and so on. Hence, I, V, X, L, etc. are also known as Roman symbols or Roman alphabets.

Nowadays, roman numerals have a wide range of applications, which you encounter in your daily life. Roman numbers are used in schools to represent the classes, such as Class I, Class II, Class V, etc. Apart from this, roman numerals are also used in titles and on clock faces to represent the time. All the roman symbols are English alphabets, but all the English alphabets are not roman symbols.

Let us understand what Roman numbers are, how to write them, and the conversion of Roman numerals. Scroll down to find out more.

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Roman numerals chart

In order to learn roman numerals, you should at least know the basic number-symbol representation, which comes under roman numerals. Below is given a basic roman numerals chart that might help in learning roman numerals:

Numbers	Roman Numeral Representation
1	I
2	II
3	III
4	IV
5	V
6	VI
7	VII
8	VIII
9	IX
10	X
11	XI
20	XX
30	XXX
40	XL
50	L
60	LX
70	LXX
80	LXXX
90	XC
100	C
500	D
1000	M
1001	MI

Roman letters

Roman letters are the letters of the English alphabet which are used to write Roman numbers or Roman numerals. As discussed above, all the roman numerals are English alphabets, but not all English alphabets are roman numerals. A total of 23 alphabets are used to represent roman numerals. 

The letters J, U, and W are not considered the Roman alphabet since they are not used in it.

The list of roman alphabets is given below:

Roman Alphabets: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, V, X, Y, and Z.

These roman alphabets are otherwise called roman symbols.

What are the 8 rules of Roman numerals?

There are certain rules to be followed for representing and learning Roman numerals to avoid possible mistakes. So, the eight basic rules for roman numerals are:

• Rule 1: When the same numerals are repeated after each other, the actual number represented by the numerals is the sum of the values each numeral represents.
  • For example, III = 1 + 1 + 1 = 3
  • Here, the numeral I is repeated three times, so the number represented by III is the sum of I three times. Since I is equivalent to 1, we added 1 three times and the final answer came out to be 3.
• Rule 2: No roman numeral can be repeated more than three times in a row.
  • For example, in numeral form, 3 can be written as III but 4 can not be written as IIII.
• Rule 3: The Roman symbols, V, L, and D, may never be repeated to represent any number.
• Rule 4: When a roman numeral is placed after another roman numeral that holds a greater value, the final result will be the sum of the numerals.
  •  For example, if, VI = 5 + 1 = 6
  • Here, the numeral V is equivalent to 5, and the numeral I is equivalent to 1, and since I is placed after V, which holds a greater value, then the actual number represented by VI is the sum of V and I, that is, 5 + 1 = 6.
• Rule 5: When a roman numeral is placed before another roman numeral that holds a greater value, the final result will be the difference between the numerals.
  • For example, XL= 50 – 10 = 40
  • Here, the numeral L is equivalent to 50 and the numeral X is equivalent to 10, and since X is placed before L, which holds a greater value, then the actual number represented by XL is the difference between L and X, that is, 50 – 10 = 40.
• Rule 6: When a roman numeral that holds a smaller value is placed between two numerals that hold greater values, the numeral having the smaller value is subtracted from the numeral on its right.
  •  For example, XIX = 10 + (10 – 1) = 10 + 9 = 19
  • Here, the numeral X is equivalent to 10 and the numeral I is equivalent to 1, and since I is placed between X’s which hold a greater value than I, then the actual number represented by XIX is the difference between the second X and I and then their sum with the first X, that is, 10 + (10 – 1) = 10 + 9 = 19.
• Rule 7: In roman numerals, the number 1000 is replaced by a bar.
  • For example, 5000 can be written as V with a bar over it.
• Rule 8: In roman numerals, there is no representation for the number zero (0).

List of Roman numerals 1 – 1000

The list of roman numerals from 1 – 1000 are given below:

1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
I	II	III	IV	V	VI	VII	VIII	IX	X
11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20
XI	XII	XIII	XIV	XV	XVI	XVII	XVIII	XIX	XX
21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30
XXI	XXII	XXIII	XXIV	XXV	XXVI	XXVII	XXVIII	XXIX	XXX
31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38	39	40
XXXI	XXXII	XXXIII	XXXIV	XXXV	XXXVI	XXXVII	XXXVIII	XXXIX	XL
41	42	43	44	45	46	47	48	49	50
XLI	XLII	XLIII	XLIV	XLV	XLVI	XLVII	XLVIII	XLIX	L
51	52	53	54	55	56	57	58	59	60
LI	LII	LIII	LIV	LV	LVI	LVII	LVIII	LIX	LX
61	62	63	64	65	66	67	68	69	70
LXI	LXII	LXIII	LXIV	LXV	LXVI	LXVII	LXVIII	LXIX	LXX
71	72	73	74	75	76	77	78	79	80
LXXI	LXXII	LXXIII	LXXIV	LXXV	LXXVI	LXXVII	LXXVIII	LXXIX	LXXX
81	82	83	84	85	86	87	88	89	90
LXXXI	LXXXII	LXXXIII	LXXXIV	LXXXV	LXXXVI	LXXXVII	LXXXVIII	LXXXIX	XC
91	92	93	94	95	96	97	98	99	100
XCI	XCII	XCIII	XCIV	XCV	XCVI	XCVII	XCVIII	XCIX	C

Roman numerals from 5000 to 100000

5000	V¯
10,000	X¯
50,000	L¯
100,000	C¯
500,000	D¯
1,000,000	M¯

Tips to remember Roman numerals

Since we are more comfortable with working on normal numbers, it might take a little more time and effort to learn roman numerals in that way. So here are a few tips that might help:

• Practicing and Solving Problems: The more questions you solve based on roman numerals, the more you will learn and get familiar with the concept in a better way. This tip works magically if you really focus on solving the problems.
• Using Mnemonics: It is one of the most effective and fun ways of learning a new concept. You can use it to learn Roman numerals. You can make your own mnemonic as per your liking. One such mnemonic is My Dog and Cat Like Xtra Vitamins. Here, the bold letters represent roman numerals in descending order, as M is equivalent to 1000, D is equivalent to 500, C is equivalent to 100, L is equivalent to 50, X is equivalent to 10, and V is equivalent to 5.

Roman numerals conversions

Now let us understand how to convert roman numerals to numbers and numbers to roman numerals using the solved examples provided below:

Conversion of numbers to Roman numerals

When writing roman numerals, we first expand the provided number as necessary using addition or subtraction in accordance with the rules, and then we write the roman symbols based on the value each sign denotes.

Convert 2033 to Roman Numerals
Solution: 2033 can be written as MMXXXIII in the roman numeral form.
Here, we expanded 2033 as 1000 + 1000 + 10 + 10 + 10 + 1 + 1 + 1.
So, for representing 1000, we use M, for representing 10, we use X, and for representing 1, we use I.
When we substitute the Roman symbols in place of the value they hold, we get the desired answer.

Conversion of Roman numerals to numbers

To convert roman numerals to normal numbers, we split the entire roman numeral into single numerals and then write their respective numeric values and finally add or subtract them, as per the rules, to get the final answer.

Convert XIV to Numeric Value
Solution: the numeric value of XIV is 14.
Here, X is equivalent to 10, I is equivalent to 1, and V is equivalent to 5.
As per rule, since I is placed between X and V, which has greater numeric values than I, the numeric value of I will be subtracted from the numeric value of V because V is on the right of I. Then the result will be added to the numeric value of X to get the final answer.
X = 10, I = 1 and V = 5
X + V – I = 10 + 5 -1
XIV = 10 + (5 – 1) = 10 + 4 = 14
XIV = 14

Solved examples on Roman numerals

A few solved examples based on Roman Numerals are given below:

Question 1: Write the numeric form of MCII.
Solution: Here, M is equivalent to 1000, C is equivalent to 100, and I is equivalent to 1.
First, we will split MCII into single numerals and then perform addition or subtraction on their respective numeric values.
MCII = M + C + I + I
= 1000 + 100 + 1 + 1
= 1102

Question 2: Write 53 in roman numeral form.
Solution: To convert 53 into a roman numeral, we need to expand 53 and then write the roman symbols according to the value a particular symbol holds.
So, 53 = 50 + 3
= 50 + 1 + 1 + 1
Since, 50 is equivalent to L and 1 is equivalent to I. Hence, 53 can be written as LIII in roman numeral form.

Question 3: Convert 1976 into the roman numeral form.
Solution: To convert 1976 into a roman numeral, we expand 1976 and then write the roman symbols according to the value a particular symbol holds.
So, 1976 = 1000 + 900 + 70 + 6
= 1000 + (1000 – 100) + (50 + 10 + 10) + (5 + 1)
Since, 1000 is equivalent to M, 100 is equivalent to C, 10 is equivalent to X, and 1 is equivalent to I.
1976 = 1000 + (1000 – 100) + (50 + 10 + 10) + (5 + 1)
= M + (M – C) + (L + X + X) + (V + I)
= M + CM + LXX + VI
= MCMLXXVI
Hence, 1976 can be written as MCMLXXVI in roman numeral form.

Question 4: Write the numeric form of DXII.
Solution: Here, D is equivalent to 500, X is equivalent to 10, and I is equivalent to 1.
First, we will split DXII into single numerals and then perform addition or subtraction on their respective numeric values.
DXII = D + X + I + I
= 500 + 10 + 1 + 1
= 500 + 10 + 2
= 512

Question 5: Compute the roman numeral: MCXX – VII
Solution: Here, M is equivalent to 1000, C is equivalent to 100, X is equivalent to 10, V is equivalent to 5, and I is equivalent to 1.
First, we will split MCXX and VII into single numerals and then perform addition or subtraction on their respective numeric values separately.
MCXX = M + C + X + X
= 1000 + 100 + 10 + 10
= 1000 + 100 + 20
= 1120
VII = V + I + I
= 5 + 1 + 1
= 7
Now, on subtracting MCXX and VII, that is, 1120 and 7, we get:
MCXX – VII = 1120 – 7
= 1113
To convert 1113 into roman numeral, we expand 1113 and then write the roman symbols according to the value a particular symbol holds.
So, 1113 = 1000 + 100 + 10 + 3
Since, 1000 is equivalent to M, 100 is equivalent to C, 10 is equivalent to X, and 1 is equivalent to I.
1113 = 1000 + 100 + 10 + 3
= M + C+ X + (I + I + I)
= M + C + X + III
= MCXIII
Hence,
MCXX – VII = 1113
= MCXIII

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FAQs on Roman numerals

Write the series of roman numerals from 1 to 10.
1 – I
2 – II
3 – III
4 – IV
5 – V
6 – VI
7 – VII
8 – VIII
9 – IX
10 – X

How roman numerals are written?
Roman numerals are written using the English alphabet. Seven alphabets are used for the basics of Roman numerals and they are:
I – 1
V – 5
X – 10
L – 50
C – 100
D – 500
M – 1000
Using these seven alphabets, all the numbers can be written in roman numeral form.

How to write 300 in roman numeral form?
300 can be expanded as 100 + 100 + 100, since 00 is equivalent to C. So, in roman numeral form, 300 can be written as CCC.

What does the roman number DC equal to?
Here, D is equivalent to 500 and C is equivalent to 100.
DC can be expanded as D + C = 500 + 100 = 600.

What are the real-life applications of roman numerals?
Roman numerals have many real-life applications. They are used to represent classroom numbers in schools, they are used in movie or book titles, and apart from that, roman numerals are also used to represent numbers in clocks.

We hope this article on Roman Numerals is helpful to you and solved all your queries related to this topic!