sixty

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈsɪk.sti/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English sixti, inherited from Old English sixtig, also siextig,^[2][3][4] from siex (“six”) (see six) and -tig (“group of ten”) (see -ty).^[2][3] Similar formations are Old Norse sextugr, Old Frisian sextich, Middle Dutch sestig, Dutch zestig, Old High German sehszug and German sechzig.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The number, with a noun: about 893.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The abstract number is from 1340.^[5] Sixty followed by a smaller numeral, as sixty-one, is from 1597,^[5] and the card game sixty-six from 1857.^[5] An obsolete sense was sixtieth (1483).^[5] American English like sixty, with great force or speed, is by 1833, though why sixty is unclear.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 893 – sixty.^[5]
• 1340 – the abstract number.^[5]
• 1597 – sixty-one, etc.^[5]
• by 1833 – like sixty (US).^[2]
• 1857 – sixty-six (card game).^[5]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The cardinal number equal to six times ten.
2. A numeral, such as 60 or LX, representing this number.
3. sixties: the numbers from 60 to 69, as the years of a century or of a person's age.

Determiner

1. Amounting to sixty: sixty soldiers.

Word family

• sixtieth
• sixtyish
• sixty-first
• sixty-four
• sixty-fourth
• sixty-fifth
• sixty-eight
• sixty-eighth

Related words

• six
• sixteen
• -ty

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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b 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 Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press