Summary

The Excel ARABIC function converts a Roman numeral as text to an Arabic numeral. For example, the formula =ARABIC("VII") returns 7.

Purpose 

Converts a Roman numerals to an Arabic numerals

Return value 

A number (in Arabic numeral)

Syntax

=ARABIC(roman_text)
  • roman_text - The Roman numeral in text that you want to convert.

How to use 

The ARABIC function converts a Roman numeral to a number in Arabic numeral form. The result from ARABIC is a numeric value.

ARABIC takes just one argument, roman_text, which should be a Roman number provided as a text string. For example, the formula below converts "VII" to the number 7:

 =ARABIC("VII") // returns 7

Other examples

 =ARABIC("L") // returns 50
 =ARABIC("C") // returns 100
 =ARABIC("M") // returns 1000
 =ARABIC("MM")+1 // returns 2001

The ROMAN function performs the opposite conversion:

=ROMAN(2021) // returns "MMXXI"
=ARABIC("MMXXI") // returns 2021

Roman numbers

The table below lists available Roman numbers with their equivalent Arabic number value.

Symbol Value
I 1
V 5
X 10
L 50
C 100
D 500
M 1000

Notes

  • The maximum length of roman_text is 255 characters.
  • The ARABIC function performs the opposite conversion as the ROMAN function.
  • If roman_text is not recognized as a Roman number, ARABIC returns #VALUE!
  • ARABIC can process Roman numbers in upper or lower case.
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Dave Bruns

Hi - I'm Dave Bruns, and I run Exceljet with my wife, Lisa. Our goal is to help you work faster in Excel. We create short videos, and clear examples of formulas, functions, pivot tables, conditional formatting, and charts.