Numerator

The numerator is the name of one of the two terms of a common fraction. The other term is called the denominator. The numerator is the "counting" number. It represents the number of parts of a whole, where the whole is represented by the denominator. The figure below shows the various parts of a fraction.

The fraction above means that the "whole" in whatever is being counted is 12, and the numerator tells us that we have 1 of the 12 parts. One way to visualize this is to use an array of shapes.

The 1 purple square represents the numerator of the fraction. It is the 1 part of 12 in the fraction.

The numerator also has other meanings. For example, it is the first number of a ratio expressed as a common fraction. The fraction, 1/12, can be written in the form of a ratio as 1:12. The numerator will always be the first number of a fraction written in ratio form, with the denominator being the second.