Contrasted with roman numerals
Europeans learned of Arabic numerals about the 10th century, though their spread was a gradual process. Two centuries later, in the Algerian city of Béjaïa, the Italian scholar Fibonacci first encountered the numerals; his work was crucial in making them known throughout Europe.
The Arabic term for zero is sifr
(صفر), transliterated into Latin as cifra
, and the origin of the English word cipher