Roman Numeral Converter
Convert numbers to Roman numerals and back.
Assumptions used in this calculation
- Range: Standard Roman numerals only represent 1 to 3999.
About this calculator
Roman numerals still show up on clock faces, movie copyright years, book chapter headings, and monument inscriptions, but converting between them and ordinary numbers by hand means tracking seven symbol values and remembering when a smaller symbol subtracts from a larger one rather than adding to it — easy to get wrong on anything beyond a small number. This converter handles both directions: turning a number from 1 to 3999 into Roman numerals by greedily subtracting the largest matching value/symbol pairs (M, CM, D, CD, C, XC, L, XL, X, IX, V, IV, I) in sequence, and parsing a Roman numeral string back into its numeric value using the same subtractive-notation rules. It uses the modern standard convention, where a smaller-value symbol placed before a larger one is subtracted (like IV for 4 or CM for 900), rather than older purely additive forms. That gives an instant, correct conversion for looking up what year MCMXCIV represents or how to properly write a number in Roman numerals, without working through the symbol-by-symbol logic yourself.
Worked example
1994
Result: MCMXCIV
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