What does MDCIV mean?

MDCIV is the Roman numeral for 1,604 — 1000 + 500 + 100 + 4.

How do you write 1604 in Roman numerals?

Take the largest value that fits and repeat until nothing is left: M (1000), then D (500), then C (100), then IV (4). That gives MDCIV.

1,604 in Roman numerals

MDCIV

Number (1–3,999 for numerals)

Roman numeral

1,604 is written MDCIV in Roman numerals. That is 4 symbol groups added together, reading left to right from the largest value down.

How it breaks down

MDCIV = 1000 + 500 + 100 + 4 = 1,604
Group	Value	Subtraction	Running total
M	1,000	—	1,000
D	500	—	1,500
C	100	—	1,600
IV	4	V − I	1,604

Why the smaller symbol comes first

MDCIV uses subtractive notation in one place: IV means V minus I, or 4. 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	yes — 1×
V	5	yes — 1×
X	10	no
L	50	no
C	100	yes — 1×
D	500	yes — 1×
M	1,000	yes — 1×

The same number, other ways

In words: One thousand six hundred four
Roman numeral: MDCIV
Symbol count: 5 characters
Binary: 11001000100
Hexadecimal: 644

The numbers either side

Number	Roman numeral
1,602	MDCII
1,603	MDCIII
1,604	MDCIV ←
1,605	MDCV
1,606	MDCVI

Common questions

What is 1604 in Roman numerals?: 1,604 is MDCIV.
What does MDCIV mean?: MDCIV is the Roman numeral for 1,604 — 1000 + 500 + 100 + 4.
How do you write 1604 in Roman numerals?: Take the largest value that fits and repeat until nothing is left: M (1000), then D (500), then C (100), then IV (4). That gives MDCIV.

Sources

Calculated on this page — At One Place

How these figures are compiled and checked