eighty

American  

[ey-tee] / ˈeɪ ti /

noun

plural

eighties

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 ].

Etymology

Origin of eighty

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

Example Sentences

For by now there were eighty Dutchmen—elderly women and middle-aged men along with our teenagers—working in “God’s underground” as we sometimes laughingly called ourselves.

From Literature

“I’m up to thirty-two words per minute with eighty percent accuracy.”

From Literature

We are the only boarders on the fourth floor under the age of eighty; our other neighbors are all widows and pensioners.

From Literature

The true cold had found us eighty miles out.

From Literature

There’s about eighty years between us so I think I can be forgiven for that.

From Literature