Numeronym

[1] According to Anne H. Soukhanov, editor of the Microsoft Encarta College Dictionary, it originally referred to phonewords – words spelled by the letters of keys of a telephone pad.

[3] Examples of numerical contractions include: Some numeronyms are composed entirely of numbers, such as "212" for "New Yorker", "4-1-1" for "information", "9-1-1" for "help", "101" for "basic introduction to a subject", and "420" for "Cannabis".

Chapter or title numbers of some jurisdictions' statutes have become numeronyms, for example 5150 and 187 from California's penal code.

Largely because the production of many American movies and television programs are based in California, usage of these terms has spread beyond its original location and user population.

Examples of purely numeric words include: A number may also denote how many times the character before or after it is repeated.