eighty

[ ey-tee ]

noun,plural eight·ies.
  1. a cardinal number, ten times eight.

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

  1. a set of this many persons or things.

  2. 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.

adjective
  1. amounting to 80 in number.

Origin of eighty

1
before 850; Middle English eighteti,Old English eahtatig.See eight, -ty1

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use eighty in a sentence

  • By the late Eighties he had disappeared into the north, and the careless city knew him no more.

    Ancestors | Gertrude Atherton
  • In the late eighties he returned to his native island, settled at Peel, and became a magnate there.

  • In the eighties any writer who dealt unabashed with death was regarded as an unpleasant person.

  • It broke down the strength of Mr. Gladstone's Government in the eighties.

    Home Rule | Harold Spender
  • The period of laissez faire in imperial matters, of Little Englandism, drew to a close in the early eighties.

    The Canadian Dominion | Oscar D. Skelton

British Dictionary definitions for eighty

eighty

/ (ˈeɪtɪ) /


nounplural -ies
  1. the cardinal number that is the product of ten and eight: See also number (def. 1)

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

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

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

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

determiner
    • amounting to eighty: eighty pages of nonsense

    • (as pronoun): eighty are expected

Origin of eighty

1
Old English eahtatig; related to Old Frisian achtig, Old High German ahtozug

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012