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    ARABIC

    Math & Trig

    Converts a Roman numeral text string to an Arabic numeral. The inverse of the ROMAN function.

    Translations
    EnglishARABIC
    FrenchARABE
    SpanishNUMERO.ARABE
    GermanARABISCH
    ItalianARABO
    PortugueseARÁBICO
    DutchARABISCH
    PolishARABSKIE
    RussianАРАБСКОЕ
    TurkishARAP
    CzechARABSKÉ
    HungarianARAB
    SwedishARABISKT
    DanishARABISK
    FinnishARABIALAINEN
    Syntax
    ARABIC(text)

    Arguments

    • textA Roman numeral as text (e.g. "XIV")
    Examples
    =ARABIC("MMXXIV")
    2024

    Converts MMXXIV back to 2024

    =ARABIC("XIV")
    14

    XIV = 14

    =ARABIC("C")
    100

    C = 100 in Roman numerals

    Tips & Best Practices
    • •Input must be a valid Roman numeral string
    • •Case-insensitive: "xiv" works the same as "XIV"
    • •Returns #VALUE! for invalid Roman numeral text
    Common Mistakes
    • •Passing text that isn't a valid Roman numeral, which returns a #VALUE! error rather than attempting a partial or approximate conversion
    • •Assuming ARABIC is case-sensitive - it isn't, so lowercase "xiv" converts just as correctly as uppercase "XIV"
    • •Forgetting that ARABIC only reverses what ROMAN produces - it won't parse arbitrary text that merely resembles Roman numerals, like a string with stray characters mixed in
    Related Functions
    ROMANPerforms the reverse conversion - turns an Arabic number into Roman numeral text.
    VALUEConverts general numeric-looking text into a number, a broader but unrelated kind of text-to-number conversion than ARABIC's Roman-numeral-specific parsing.
    ISNUMBERCan check whether ARABIC's result is a genuine number, useful for validating that a conversion actually succeeded.
    Frequently Asked Questions

    Why does ARABIC return a #VALUE! error?

    The text isn't a valid Roman numeral - it may contain a typo, an invalid character combination, or characters that aren't part of the Roman numeral system.

    Does ARABIC care about uppercase or lowercase?

    No, it's case-insensitive - "xiv" and "XIV" both convert to 14.

    Can ARABIC handle numbers above 3999?

    Only if the Roman numeral text itself represents such a value using valid Roman numeral notation - the practical range mirrors what ROMAN can produce, roughly 1 to 3999.

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