In Google Sheets, the function ARABIC is used to convert a Roman numeral to its corresponding Arabic (decimal) value. It helps you convert Roman numerals, which are a numeral system used in ancient Rome, into modern decimal numbers.

The syntax for the ARABIC function is as follows: ARABIC(roman_numeral)

roman_numeral: This is the Roman numeral that you want to convert to an Arabic number. The Roman numeral should be in uppercase.

The ARABIC function interprets the Roman numeral and returns its decimal equivalent. Roman numerals use a combination of letters to represent numbers. Here are the basic Roman numeral symbols:

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

To convert a Roman numeral to its Arabic value, the ARABIC function follows the rules of Roman numeral notation. It reads the Roman numeral from left to right and adds the values of the individual symbols. If a smaller symbol appears before a larger symbol, it subtracts the value of the smaller symbol.

For example, ARABIC("XIV") would return the value 14, as it represents the sum of 10 (X) and 4 (IV). Similarly, ARABIC("LXXVIII") would return 78, as it represents the sum of 50 (L), 10 (X) repeated three times (XXX), and 5 (V) repeated three times (III).