eighteen English · revision 39495

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=Old English, West Saxon Gospels|origins=gem-pro *ahtōutehun}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * UK: /ˈeɪ.tiːn/, /ˌeɪˈtiːn/^(Wiktionary)

+ * US: /ˈeɪ(t).tin/, /ˌeɪ(t)ˈtin/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|eightetene]] or [[m|enm|eightene]],^(MWU 2024)^(Klein 1966) [[inh|ang|eahtatēne]] (also [[m|ang|eahtatȳne]] and [[m|ang|eahtatīene]]),^(MWU 2024)^(Bosworth-Toller)^(OED 2026) from [[m|ang|eahta|t=eight]] and [[m|ang|-tēne]], the form of [[m|ang|tēn|t=ten]] used in compounds.^(MWU 2024)^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002) It goes back to [[gem-pro|*ahtōutehun]], a compound of the Germanic words for [[eight]] and [[ten]],^(Wiktionary)^(OED 2026) and is related to [[ofs|achtatīne]], [[osx|ahtotian]], [[nl|achttien]], [[goh|ahtozehan]] (modern [[de|achtzehn]]), [[non|áttján]], [[sv|adertån]] and [[da|atten]].^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)^(Klein 1966) The OED explains the English shape of the second element under [[-teen]].^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The number one more than seventeen: Old English, in the West Saxon Gospels (Luke 13:4).^(OED 2026) Bosworth-Toller quotes ''Híg him þeówodon eahtatyne geár'', "they served him eighteen years", from the Book of Judges.^(Bosworth-Toller)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Middle English forms include ''ahtene'' (about 1200) and ''eightene'' (late 14th century).^(Etymonline) As a noun ''eighteen'' could stand for eighteen persons or things understood from the context, such as years of age or pence, from Old English on.^(SOED 2002) Johnson (1755) defined it as "twice nine", quoting Shakespeare's ''Cymbeline'': "He can't take two from twenty, for his heart, And leave eighteen".^(Johnson 1755) Later uses came from trades and fields: ''eighteens'', a book printed in eighteenmo (1683), ''an eighteen'', an eighteen-pounder gun (1834), and ''the eighteen-twenties'' and similar names for decades of the 19th century (1906).^(OED 2026)^(MWU 2024) In Australia an ''eighteen'' is an eighteen-gallon keg of beer (1941),^(GDoS) and an Australian Rules football team.^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Old English – ''eahtatēne'', in the West Saxon Gospels.^(OED 2026)

+ * c. 1200 – ''ahtene''.^(Etymonline)

+ * late 14th century – ''eightene''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1683 – ''eighteens'', a book in eighteenmo.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1834 – an eighteen-pounder gun.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1906 – ''eighteen-twenties'' and similar.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1941 – (Australian) an eighteen-gallon keg of beer.^(GDoS)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Numeral===

+ # The [[cardinal number]] one more than seventeen, written 18 or XVIII.^(AHD 2024)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Amounting to eighteen: ''eighteen months''.^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A group or set of eighteen people or things.^(MWU 2024)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The eighteenth in a series, especially a clothing [[size]].^(MWU 2024)^(AHD 2024)

+ # (Australian Rules football) A team of eighteen players.^(Collins 2023)

+ # (Australia, slang) An eighteen-gallon [[keg]] of beer.^(GDoS)

+ # ''eighteens'' (printing): a book in [[eighteenmo]].^(OED 2026)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[eighteenth]]

+ * [[eighteen-wheeler]]

+ * [[eighteenmo]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[eight]]

+ * [[ten]]

+ * [[-teen]]

+ * [[eighty]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ In West Durham an ''eighteen'' was a grey slate two feet long; the use is obsolete.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}