eighty

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English eighti (also eightety, eigteti),^[2][3][4][5] inherited from Old English eahtatig, a shortening of the older hundeahtatig,^[3][6][7] inherited from Proto-Germanic *ahtōutēhundą.^[1] The Old English numeral was formed from the prefix hund-, used with the tens from seventy upwards and of uncertain origin, eahta (“eight”) and -tiġ (“a group of ten”);^{[8][9][10][3]} the first element was lost early in the Middle English period, as in seventy.^[9][10][4] The suffix, now -ty, is related to -zug and tigr (“a decade”);^[3] the OED traces it to a Germanic plural of a noun meaning "decade".^[8] ahtozug and achtzig are cognates.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The number eight times ten: in Old English, where the OED's first quotation is from the Vespasian Psalter;^[8] Etymonline dates the shortened Middle English form eigteti to the late 13th century.^[4] Merriam-Webster dates the word to before the 12th century.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Johnson (1755) defined it as "eight times ten; fourscore",^[11] quoting Shakespeare's line Eighty odd years of sorrow have I seen.^[11] Used as a noun, the eighties has meant the years from eighty to eighty-nine of a century since 1835,^[8] and also a person's age between eighty and ninety.^[12][8] In the United States an eighty was a tract of eighty acres, half a quarter section of public land, from 1842.^[8]

Timeline

• Old English – eahtatig, hundeahtatig, eight times ten.^[8][3]
• late 13th century – eigteti.^[4]
• 1835 – the eighties, the years 80 to 89 of a century.^[8]
• 1842 – (US) a tract of eighty acres.^[8]

Modern meaning

Numeral

1. The number equal to eight times ten, written 80 or LXXX.

Noun

1. eighties (plural): the numbers from 80 to 89, especially the years 80 to 89 of a century or of a person's age: She was still climbing hills in her eighties.
2. (US, historical) A tract of eighty acres of land, half a quarter section.

Word family

• eightieth
• eighty-eight
• eighty-eighth
• eighty-first
• eighty-five
• eighty-four
• eighty-fifth
• eighty-fourth

Related words

• eight
• eighteen
• seventy
• hundred
• -ty

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
3. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
6. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
7. ^ Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
12. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins