What does MCCXL mean?

MCCXL is the Roman numeral for 1,240 — 1000 + 100 + 100 + 40.

How do you write 1240 in Roman numerals?

Take the largest value that fits and repeat until nothing is left: M (1000), then C (100), then C (100), then XL (40). That gives MCCXL.

1,240 in Roman numerals

MCCXL

Number (1–3,999 for numerals)

Roman numeral

1,240 is written MCCXL in Roman numerals. That is 4 symbol groups added together, reading left to right from the largest value down.

How it breaks down

MCCXL = 1000 + 100 + 100 + 40 = 1,240
Group	Value	Subtraction	Running total
M	1,000	—	1,000
C	100	—	1,100
C	100	—	1,200
XL	40	L − X	1,240

Why the smaller symbol comes first

MCCXL uses subtractive notation in one place: XL means L minus X, or 40. A smaller symbol placed before a larger one is subtracted from it rather than added, which is why IX is nine and not eleven.

Only six such pairs are valid — IV, IX, XL, XC, CD and CM. That restriction is what makes the notation unambiguous: IIII and IC both look like they should work, but neither is standard, and only one spelling of any number is correct.

The symbols

Symbol	Value	Used here
I	1	no
V	5	no
X	10	yes — 1×
L	50	yes — 1×
C	100	yes — 2×
D	500	no
M	1,000	yes — 1×

The same number, other ways

In words: One thousand two hundred forty
Roman numeral: MCCXL
Symbol count: 5 characters
Binary: 10011011000
Hexadecimal: 4D8

The numbers either side

Number	Roman numeral
1,238	MCCXXXVIII
1,239	MCCXXXIX
1,240	MCCXL ←
1,241	MCCXLI
1,242	MCCXLII

Common questions

What is 1240 in Roman numerals?: 1,240 is MCCXL.
What does MCCXL mean?: MCCXL is the Roman numeral for 1,240 — 1000 + 100 + 100 + 40.
How do you write 1240 in Roman numerals?: Take the largest value that fits and repeat until nothing is left: M (1000), then C (100), then C (100), then XL (40). That gives MCCXL.

Sources

Calculated on this page — At One Place

How these figures are compiled and checked