1. A large and indeterminate number of objects: "There were N bugs in
that crock!" Also used in its original sense of a variable name:
"This crock has N bugs, as N goes to infinity." (The true number of
bugs is always at least N + 1; see {Lubarsky's Law of Cybernetic
Entomology}.)
2. A variable whose value is inherited from the current context. For
example, when a meal is being ordered at a restaurant, N may be
understood to mean however many people there are at the table. From
the remark "We'd like to order N wonton soups and a family dinner for
N - 1" you can deduce that one person at the table wants to eat only
soup, even though you don't know how many people there are (see
{great-wall}).
3. Nth: adj. The ordinal counterpart of N, senses 1 and 2.
4. "Now for the Nth and last time..." In the specific context
"Nth-year grad student", N is generally assumed to be at least 4, and
is usually 5 or more (see {tenured graduate student}). See also
{random numbers}, {two-to-the-N}.
[glossary]
[Reference(s) to this entry by made by: {great-wall}{random numbers}{two-to-the-N}{X}]