# Whole number

A whole number is an intuitive concept of a number that is not fractional. There are three different definitions of the whole numbers, whose usage depends heavily on the author:

1. The natural numbers.

2. The natural numbers and zero (in definitions of the number sets where the natural numbers do not contain zero).

3. The integers.

The set of whole numbers, when it is separate from the natural numbers and the integers, is usually notated as either $$\mathbb{N}^0$$ or $$\mathbb{W}$$.

Parents:

• Number

An abstract object that expresses quantity or value of some sort.

• This sentence seems unclear/​confusing?

• I’m meaning to write there, “different authors have wildly different conventions about what constitutes a whole number”. How could that be made clearer?

• hmm.. I did parse that from it, it’s maybe fine as-is. I think the thing is “whose” feeling personal, when it’s referring to something not owned by a person? I think I’d write something like

“It may refer to one of three distinct mathematical objects, depending on the author:”