eighty

American  

[ey-tee] / ˈeɪ ti /

noun

eighties plural

1. a cardinal number, ten times eight.

2. a symbol for this number, as 80 or LXXX.

3. a set of this many persons or things.

4. eighties, the numbers, years, degrees, or the like, from 80 through 89, as in referring to numbered streets, indicating the years of a lifetime or of a century, or degrees of temperature.

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adjective

1. amounting to 80 in number.

eighty British  

/ ˈeɪtɪ /

noun

1. the cardinal number that is the product of ten and eight See also number

2. a numeral, 80, LXXX, etc, representing this number

3. (plural) the numbers 80–89, esp a person's age or the year of a particular century

4. the amount or quantity that is eight times as big as ten

5. something represented by, representing, or consisting of 80 units

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determiner

1. 1. amounting to eighty

      eighty pages of nonsense

   2. ( as pronoun )

      eighty are expected

Usage

Spelling tips for 80 The word eighty (80) is hard to spell for two reasons. First, it is not spelled the way it sounds [ ey-tee ]. Second, it is tempting to use a double t because the base word (eight) ends in a t and the suffix -ty begins with one.  How to spell eighty: To spell eighty, you start by correctly spelling the first syllable [ ey ]. The easiest way to remember how to spell eigh- is with the classic mnemonic device: “I before E, except after C, except when it’s pronounced like a long A, as in neighbor and weigh.” The collection of letters eigh often makes a long A sound [ ey ].

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• eighties
  plural

Etymology

Origin of eighty

before 850; Middle English eighteti, Old English eahtatig. See eight, -ty ¹

Example Sentences

Eighty years after the creation of ENIAC, the world's first general-purpose electronic computer, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania are exploring a new way to power the future of computing.

From Science Daily • May 19, 2026

Eighty percent of the small coastal country's two million people are Catholics, a legacy of Spanish colonisation.

From Barron's • Apr. 22, 2026

Eighty percent of Americans agree with the statement that “empathy is a moral value that is the foundation of a healthy society,” according to one recent and well-respected survey from the Public Religion Research Institute.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 27, 2025

Eighty percent of Zoomer respondents reported feeling that young people were too dependent on technology, according to a 2023 Harris Poll survey.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 6, 2025

Eighty tins of pure ghee were poured over the elephant to feed the fire.

From "The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy