Arabic numerals Libya to Morocco. Arabs, on the other hand, call the base-10 system (not just these digits) "Hindu numerals", referring to their origin in India. This is not to be confused with what the Arabs call the "Hindi numerals", namely the Eastern Arabic numerals ( - - - - - - - - - ) used in the Middle East, or any of the numerals currently used in Indian languages (e.g. Devanagari: ). The European acceptance of the numerals was accelerated by the invention of the printing press, and they became widely known during the 15th century. Early evidence of their
Thai numerals oval 0 (number) when using Arabic numerals, but a small circle when using traditional numerals, and also means "centre" in other contexts. It is from Sanskrit "śūnya", as are the (context-driven) alternate names for numbers one to four given below; but not the counting 1 (number). Thai names for "N" +1 and the regular digits 2 through 9 as shown in the table, below, resemble those in Chinese varieties (e.g., Cantonese and Min Nan) as spoken in Southern China, the homeland of the overseas chinese living in South East Asia . In fact, the etymology of Thai numerals 2, 3,