fifty English · revision 6902

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=compound|attested=c. 725}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈfɪf.ti/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English fifti, [[inh|ang|fīftiġ|t=fifty; a set of fifty]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) [[af|ang|fīf|-tiġ|t1=five|t2=group of ten]] (see [[five]] and [[-ty]]),^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(NODE 1998) from PIE [[ine-pro|*pénkʷe|t=five]].^(Etymonline) Compare Old Frisian and [[osx|fīftich]], [[nl|vijftig]], [[non|fimm tigir]], [[goh|fimfzug]] (German fünfzig) and [[got|𐍆𐌹𐌼𐍆 𐍄𐌹𐌲𐌾𐌿𐍃|tr=fimf tigjus]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old English fīftiġ, about 725 in ''Beowulf'' in Barnhart;^(Barnhart 1988) about 1000 in the OED, both as a number and as a set of fifty persons or things.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Middle English it is fifti, probably before 1200.^(Barnhart 1988) MWU notes that Old English fīftiġ was first a noun, a group of fifty.^(MWU 2024) Fifty used indefinitely as a large number, as ''fifty times'', is from 1818,^(OED 1989) and fifty for fiftieth from 1539 but obsolete.^(OED 1989) A fifty-gun ship was a fifty in 1778.^(OED 1989) ''The fifties'', the years from 50 to 59 of a century or of a person's life, is from about 1714.^(OED 1989)^(AHD) ''Fifty-fifty'', in an even division, is United States colloquial from 1908 in Etymonline,^(Etymonline) 1913 in the writings of P. G. Wodehouse in Barnhart.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 725 – Old English fīftiġ, in ''Beowulf''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * before 1200 – Middle English fifti.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1714 – the fifties.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1778 – a fifty-gun ship.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1818 – an indefinite large number.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1908 – fifty-fifty.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The [[cardinal number]] equal to five times ten; 50.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(fifties)'' The numbers, years or ages from 50 to 59.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A banknote of fifty dollars, pounds or the like.^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Amounting to fifty in number.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[fiftieth]]

+ * [[fiftyish]]

+ * [[fifty-fifty]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[five]]

+ * [[fifth]]

+ * [[fifteen]]

+ * [[-ty]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}