\Nu`mer*a"tion\, n. [L. numeratio a counting out: cf.
F. num['e]ration.]
1. The act or art of numbering.
         Numeration is but still the adding of one unit more,
         and giving to the whole a new name or sign. --Locke.
2. The act or art of reading numbers when expressed by means
   of numerals. The term is almost exclusively applied to the
   art of reading numbers written in the scale of tens, by
   the Arabic method. --Davies & Peck.
Note: For convenience in reading, numbers are usually
      separated by commas into periods of three figures each,
      as 1,155,465. According to what is called the
      ``English'' system, the billion is a million of
      millions, a trillion a million of billions, and each
      higher denomination is a million times the one
      preceding. According to the system of the French and
      other Continental nations and also that of the United
      States, the billion is a thousand millions, and each
      higher denomination is a thousand times the preceding.