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.