Etymologically
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twenty

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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

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