twenty

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ˈtwen.ti/, US /ˈtwen.t̬i/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English twenti,^[2][3] inherited from Old English twēntiġ (“group of twenty”),^[2][4][5] a contraction of *twēgentig,^[3] from twēgen “two” and -tiġ “group of ten”, the suffix -ty.^[2][4][5] The first element goes back to Proto-Indo-European *dwo- (“two”).^[2][6] It is cognate with Old Saxon twēntig, Old Frisian twintich, Dutch twintig, Old High German zweinzug and German zwanzig;^[2][4] Gothic twai tigjus, literally “two tens”, is even more transparent.^[2][3] Hoad calls the first element obscure, comparing Old Norse tuttugu.^[7][8] Middle Low German and Old Saxon stiga preserve a very old word for twenty, of unknown origin.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Combined with the lower numerals, about 893 in the OED,^[9] and Old English before 899 in Barnhart.^[4]

Semantic evolution

As a multiplier, twenty hundred for two thousand, it is from about 950, now obsolete.^[9] Used loosely for a large, indefinite number it is from about 1470.^[9] With years of age understood it is from 1773,^[9] and the twenties, a decade, came later.^[10][11] Twenty questions, the guessing game, is recorded from 1786,^[2] the card game twenty-one from 1790, from French vingt-et-un,^[2] and twenty-four hours a day from 1914.^[9] Twenty-twenty hindsight is recorded by 1962, from the Snellen fraction for normal sight, measured in feet.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 893 – twenty.^[9]
• c. 1470 – a large number.^[9]
• 1773 – twenty years of age.^[9]
• 1786 – twenty questions.^[2]
• 1914 – twenty-four hours a day.^[9]
• 1962 – twenty-twenty hindsight.^[2]

Modern meaning

Numeral

1. The cardinal number equal to two times ten; 20.

Noun

1. twenties The numbers or years from 20 to 29, especially of a century or of a person's age.
2. A twenty-dollar or twenty-pound note.

Word family

• twentieth
• twentysomething
• twenty-eight
• twenty-eighth
• twentyfold
• twenty-first
• twenty-four

Related words

• two
• ten
• -ty
• score
• twice
• twain

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 l Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
4. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
5. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
7. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ 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
10. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
11. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster