Definition
In law, "number" carries two practical meanings depending on context:
1. A collection or aggregate of countable units. In pleading and contract interpretation, number refers to the specific quantity of things alleged or described — a figure that may or may not require strict proof depending on how it was pleaded.
2. A designating identifier. In modern legal and administrative usage, "number" serves as a label distinguishing one item, person, entity, or instrument from others — as in case number, docket number, tax identification number, or patent number.
The term also carries a drafting and construction rule: in most American and English statutory and contractual contexts, the plural number includes the singular unless a contrary intent appears. A statute prohibiting acts involving "houses" applies equally to a single house; a reference to "notes" encompasses a single note.
Common Language
Modern common usage (Wiktionary): An abstract entity used to describe quantity; a numeral or symbol for a non-negative integer; also used to indicate position in a list or sequence.
Historical common usage (Webster's 1913): That which admits of being counted or reckoned; a unit or aggregate of units; a numerable aggregate; also, a multitude or numerous assemblage.
The gap between common and legal meaning is narrow but specific. Ordinary usage treats "number" as purely quantitative. Legal usage adds a procedural dimension — the accuracy of a number in a pleading determines how strictly it must be proved at trial — and a constructional dimension, where the plural form of a number-inflected word may legally sweep in the singular. Neither of these functions appears in ordinary dictionary definitions.
Core Elements
The pleading rule for numbers, as articulated in Bouvier, rests on a distinction between two situations:
Recital context (strict): When a number appears in the recital of a record, written instrument, or express contract, it must be stated truly. The number is part of the document being described and its accuracy is a matter of record.
Non-recital context (general): When a number is alleged in other pleading contexts — for example, in a trespass action describing how many items were taken — it need not be precisely accurate, because it is not required to be strictly proved. A variance between alleged and proved quantity will not necessarily defeat the claim.
Why It Matters in Research
The singular/plural construction rule is one of the most quietly important default rules in statutory interpretation and contract drafting, and it is embedded in the definition of "number" in historical legal dictionaries rather than in a standalone entry researchers might think to look for. Anderson's flags it tersely; researchers working with penal statutes in historical sources should check whether the plural-includes-singular canon was applied by the court, since pre-20th century opinions do not always announce the canon explicitly.
The pleading distinction in Bouvier — strict accuracy required in recitals, not required elsewhere — reflects common law pleading doctrine that has largely dissolved under modern notice pleading regimes (Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and their state analogs). Researchers reading historical case law or equity proceedings should not assume this distinction is operative in the forum or period they are researching without checking the applicable pleading rules.
The phrase "a number of days" as meaning two or more days (per Anderson) occasionally surfaces in limitations periods, notice requirements, and contractual deadline provisions. Courts have split on whether "a number" requires more than two, and historical sources are inconsistent. This is a known interpretive trap in older instruments and statutes.
In modern practice, "number" as an identifier (docket number, registration number, account number) is primarily administrative rather than substantive, but errors in identifying numbers in pleadings or instruments can create authentication and specificity problems, particularly with negotiable instruments and patent claims.
Historical Dictionary Support
Bouvier and Anderson largely agree on the core pleading rule, though Bouvier states it with more specificity, citing English common law authorities. Both sources reflect the formalist pleading environment of the 19th century, where technical accuracy in recitals carried real procedural consequences.
Anderson's additional note on the plural-includes-singular canon is more useful to modern researchers than Bouvier's pleading focus, because the construction canon survived procedural reform while strict recital rules largely did not.
Neither source addresses the identifier usage of "number" — case numbers, registration numbers, serial numbers — because that administrative apparatus was not yet developed in the form familiar to modern practitioners. Researchers should treat both entries as incomplete on this dimension and look to modern administrative law and civil procedure sources.
Jurisdictional Note
The plural-includes-singular default rule appears in the statutory construction acts of most American states and in federal drafting conventions, but the scope of the rule and available exceptions vary. Some jurisdictions apply the rule only to statutes; others extend it to regulations and private instruments. Confirm applicability in the specific jurisdiction and instrument type.