Etymologically
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sixteen

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 17 October 2026 at 15:35. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˌsɪkˈstiːn/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English sixtene, inherited from Old English sixtȳne, also siextīene,[2][3][4] from siex (“six”) (see six) and -tȳne, from tȳn (“ten”) (see -teen and ten).[2][3] Similar formations are Old Frisian sextine, Middle Dutch sestien, Dutch zestien, German sechzehn, Old High German sehszehan and Old Norse sextan.[2][3] From the contracted form Latin sedecim come Italian sedici and French seize.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The number, used with a noun: before 900.[5] The abstract number is from about 1055.[5]

Semantic evolution

Sixteen without a following noun is from before 1225,[5] and sixteen years of age from 1607.[5] It also meant sixteenth (about 1400, now obsolete),[5] a sheet folded into sixteen leaves (about 1606),[5] and, in the plural, a kind of ale (1584).[5] In western Scotland sixteen hundred was a fine quality of linen,[6] and in west Durham a sixteen was a slate one foot ten inches long.[6]

Timeline

  • before 900 – sixteen (with a noun).[5]
  • c. 1055 – the abstract number.[5]
  • before 1225 – sixteen alone.[5]
  • 1584 – sixteens, a kind of ale.[5]
  • 1607 – sixteen years of age.[5]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. The cardinal number equal to fifteen plus one.
  2. A numeral, such as 16 or XVI, representing this number.
  3. (music) The numeral 16 as the lower figure of a time signature, showing that the beat is measured in semiquavers.
  4. The 16th in a set or sequence.

Determiner

  1. Amounting to sixteen: sixteen tons.

Word family

  • sixteenth
  • sixteenmo
  • sixteenpenny

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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b 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)