# When the set of Natural numbers are denoted as “N” and that of Whole numbers as “W”, why is the set of Integers denoted as “Z”?

When the set of Natural numbers are denoted as "N" and that of Whole numbers as "W", why is the set of Integers denoted as "Z"?

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Taken straight from the wikipedia article on integers: "The set of all integers is often denoted by a boldface Z (or blackboard bold $\mathbb Z$, Unicode U+2124 ℤ), which stands for Zahlen (German for numbers, pronounced [ˈtsaːlən])." – Srivatsan Oct 12 '11 at 3:18
While (possibly almost) all of us have asked this question, it's rather useless. Combine that with the ease in finding the answer (cf @Sri 's comment)... (-1) – The Chaz 2.0 Oct 12 '11 at 3:21
@Andrea: Apparently not, see Jeff Smith's page. He says $\mathbf{Z}$ and $\mathbf{Q}$ are due to Bourbaki, while van der Waerden used $C$ and $\Gamma$ for integers and rational numbers. – t.b. Oct 12 '11 at 13:14
Interesting about van der Waerden. I got my copy off the shelf (1959 edition in German). This does have $\mathbb Z$ and $\mathbb Q$. Not really a disproof of Jeff Smith's page. – GEdgar Oct 12 '11 at 14:41