Subtraction is the operation of taking the difference of two numbers and . Here, is called the minuend, is called the subtrahend, and the symbol between the and is called the minus sign. The expression "" is read " minus ."
Subtraction is the inverse of addition, so .
The subtraction of a number from itself gives 0, while the subtraction of a real number from a smaller real number gives a negative real number. Subtraction of real numbers can be naturally extended to complex numbers.