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definitions

five

[fahyv]
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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR five ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a cardinal number, four plus one.
a symbol for this number, as 5 or V.
a set of this many persons or things.
a playing card, die face, or half of a domino face with five pips.
Informal. a five-dollar bill: Can you give me two fives for a ten?

adjective

amounting to five in number.

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RELATED WORDS

quintuple, cinquefoil, pentangle, pentagram, lustrum, cinque, quinquennium, pentacle, quintuplet, pentagon, limerick, pentad, pentamerous, quinary, quinate, quinquennial, quincunx, quintuplicate

Nearby words

  1. fitzrovia,
  2. fitzroy,
  3. fitzsimmons,
  4. fitzwilliam museum,
  5. fiume,
  6. five by five,
  7. five civilized nations,
  8. five civilized tribes,
  9. five hole,
  10. five hundred

Idioms

    take five, Informal. to take a brief respite.

Origin of five

before 1000; 1925–30 for def 7; Middle English; Old English fīf; cognate with Dutch vijf, German fünf, Old Norse fimm, Gothic fimf, Latin quīnque, Greek pénte, Sanskrit pancha
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for five

British Dictionary definitions for five

five

noun

the cardinal number that is the sum of four and one
a numeral, 5, V, etc, representing this number
the amount or quantity that is one greater than four
something representing, represented by, or consisting of five units, such as a playing card with five symbols on it

determiner

  1. amounting to fivefive minutes; five nights
  2. (as pronoun)choose any five you like Related prefixes: penta-, quinque-
See also fives

Word Origin for five

Old English fīf; related to Old Norse fimm, Gothic fimf, Old High German finf, Latin quinque, Greek pente, Sanskrit pañca
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
Word Origin and History for five

five

n.

Old English fif, from Proto-Germanic *fimfe (cf. Old Frisian and Old Saxon fif, Dutch vijf, Old Norse fimm, Old High German funf, Gothic fimf), from PIE *penkwe- (cf. Sanskrit panca, Greek pente, Latin quinque, Old Church Slavonic peti, Lithuanian penke, Old Welsh pimp). The sound shift that removed the *-m- is a regular development involving Old English, Old Frisian, and Old Saxon (cf. thought, from stem of think; couth from *kunthaz; us from *uns.

Slang five-finger discount "theft" is from 1966. Five o'clock shadow attested by 1937. The original five-year plan was 1928 in the U.S.S.R.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Idioms and Phrases with five

five

see take five.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.