c-x

Updated: May 15, 2025

But when we come to ninety, instead of adding four X's to the L, they took a shorter method, and expressed it in two figures instead of five, thus, XC, i. e. 100 or C-X=90. For example, to express the year 1695, they printed it thus: MDCVC, that is 1000+500+100+100-5.

Ainsworth Rand Spofford - A Book for All Readers: An Aid to the Collection, Use, and Preservation of Books: and the Formation of Public and Private Libraries