eight

Pronunciation

• IPA: /eɪt/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English eighte, earlier ehte,^[2][3] inherited from Old English eahta, also æhta,^[2][3] from Proto-Germanic *akhto,^[3][2] the source also of Old Saxon and Old High German ahto (German acht, Dutch acht), Old Norse átta and Gothic ahtau,^[2][4] from Proto-Indo-European *oḱtṓ(u) (“eight”).^[3][5] Its cognates outside Germanic include Latin octō, Greek oktṓ, Old Irish ocht, Lithuanian aštuonì, Sanskrit aṣṭáu and Tocharian A okät.^[3][4][6] The Germanic, Greek, Latin and Sanskrit forms seem to continue an Indo-European dual in -ōu, possibly meaning “two fours”.^[3] French huit, Italian otto and Spanish ocho come from the Latin word.^[2] The -gh- spelling is like that of fight.^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old English eahta is found about 725, in Beowulf;^[3] Middle English ehte is probably from about 1200, in the Ormulum,^[3][2] and eighte from about 1378.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Eight days meant a week from about 1160.^[7] Eight o'clock with the noun left out is from 1598.^[7] The Spanish piece of eight, a dollar worth eight reals, is from the 1690s.^[2][7] A rowing crew of eight is from 1847.^[2] In Scots an aucht days was a few days, a short time.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 725 – Old English eahta.^[3]
• c. 1160 – eight days, a week.^[7]
• c. 1200 – Middle English ehte.^[3]
• c. 1378 – the form eighte.^[3]
• 1690s – piece of eight.^[2]
• 1847 – an eight-man rowing crew.^[2]

Modern meaning

Number

1. The cardinal number that is one more than seven.

Noun

1. The symbol for this number, 8.
2. A set or group of eight, especially a rowing crew or its boat.
3. An eight-cylinder engine or car.

Word family

• eighteen
• eightpenny
• eighty
• eighty-eight
• eight ball
• figure eight
• figure of eight
• piece of eight

Related words

• eighth
• octave
• octopus
• October
• octagon

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
6. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)