Largest number is mathematically meaningless (since in the usual system of integers, any number may be increased by adding one to it); however, the term may refer to:
- Names of large numbers, for the largest numbers with names
- Infinity, a concept which can be used as a largest number in some contexts
- Graham's number, once claimed as the largest number ever used in a serious mathematical proof
- Large numbers, for notations to exactly specify very large numbers
In computers:
- The constant 32767, 2147483647, or 9223372036854775807, in a word of 16, 32, or 64 bits in two's-complement format
- The constant 65535, 4294967295, or 18446744073709551615, in a word of 16, 32, or 64 bits with no sign bit
- The constant 3.4028235e+38 or 1.7976931348623157e+308, in a word of 32 or 64 bits using the binary IEEE 754-2008 floating-point representation
Famous quotes containing the words largest and/or number:
“Because it is in the nature of things that they become extreme, we have passed down from manliness to cruelty. If I had been told when I was 20 that there was a tavern in the town where the brave and the cruel were gathered together, I would have run all the way and I would have gone up to the largest and leatheriest of the denizens and said: “If you truly love me, kill the bartender.””
—Quentin Crisp (b. 1908)
“There is not to be found, in all history, any miracle attested by a sufficient number of men, of such unquestioned good sense, education, and learning, as to secure us against all delusion in themselves ... beyond all suspicion of any design to deceive others ... and at the same time attesting facts, performed in such a public manner, and in so celebrated a part of the world, as to render the detection unavoidable.”
—David Hume (1711–1776)