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.
