sixty
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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
- The cardinal number equal to six times ten.
- A numeral, such as 60 or LX, representing this number.
- sixties: the numbers from 60 to 69, as the years of a century or of a person's age.
Determiner
- Amounting to sixty: sixty soldiers.
Word family
- sixtieth
- sixtyish
- sixty-first
- sixty-four
- sixty-fourth
- sixty-fifth
- sixty-eight
- sixty-eighth
Related words
References
- ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
- ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
- ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ 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