The ancient Romans developed a system of numbers known as Roman numerals. They are still in use today, for example, when marking the publication year of a book or the year of a film’s first theatrical run. Using the traditional Arabic numbering system, the Roman numeral MCMXL corresponds to the year 1940. If you know your Roman numerals, translating MCMXL to words is a breeze.
There are seven basic symbols used in the Roman numeral system, and they all stand for distinct numbers. You’ll see the letters I, V, X, L, C, D, and M. In this system, the letter I represents 1, the letter V represents 5, the letter X represents 10, the letter L represents 50, the letter C represents 100, the letter D represents 500, and the letter M represents 1000. MCMXL may be written as a string of words by first decomposing the number into its component symbols, and then adding up the values of those symbols.
The M in MCMXL represents 1000, the CM represents 900, and the XL represents 40. There is a total of 1940 represented by these signs. In other words, the numerical equivalent of MCMXL is 1940.
Keep in mind that you should read Roman numerals from left to right and that consecutive symbols should be added. The roman number MCMXLIV, for instance, converts to the decimal year 1,944. After adding up the individual values for M, CM, and XL, the total for all three is the year 1944.
Understanding the rules of Roman numerals makes it simple to translate MCMXL into English. MCMXL denotes the year 2040 as a roman numeral.
see also How to Write 1972 in Roman Numerals: A Step-by-Step Guide
