seven

[sev-uh n]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR seven ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a cardinal number, 6 plus 1.

a symbol for this number, as 7 or VII.

a set of this many persons or things.

a playing card with seven pips.

sevens, (used with a singular verb) fan-tan(def 1).

adjective

amounting to seven in number.

Verb Phrases

seven out, crap²(def 3a).

Origin of seven

before 900; Middle English seoven(e), seofne, seven, Old English seofon; cognate with German sieben, Gothic sibun; akin to Old Irish secht, Welsh saith, Latin septem, Greek heptá, Polish siedem, Sanskrit saptá

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for seven

septenary, hebdomad, heptad, septemviral, septennial, septuple, septuplicate

Examples from the Web for seven

Contemporary Examples of seven

Submission is set in a France seven years from now that is dominated by a Muslim president intent on imposing Islamic law.
Houellebecq’s Incendiary Novel Imagines France With a Muslim President
Pierre Assouline
January 9, 2015
The Pentagon said Faal served in the Air Force for seven years, during which time he became a U.S. citizen.
The Shadowy U.S. Veteran Who Tried to Overthrow a Country
Jacob Siegel
January 6, 2015
The Air Force has about seven pilots for every eight drone pilot slots, in other words.
Exclusive: U.S. Drone Fleet at ‘Breaking Point,’ Air Force Says
Dave Majumdar
January 5, 2015
If you answered seven or more of these correctly, you are eligible for a lifetime supply of Metamucil.
The World’s Toughest Political Quiz
Jeff Greenfield
December 31, 2014
Since the age of six or seven, Wendy Roome knew something was terribly wrong about her.
Inside A Finishing School for Transwomen
Sharon Adarlo
December 27, 2014

Historical Examples of seven

They were fabled as seven sisters, and one lost her place in the sky by marrying a mortal.
Philothea
Lydia Maria Child
Sure, gent, I'll have it here at seven, and be here at seven-thirty.
The Spenders
Harry Leon Wilson
And the undertaker's bill was seven dollars and forty-five cents.
Punchinello, Vol. 1. No. 20, August 13, 1870
Various
But Babylon was made into one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.
Ancient Man
Hendrik Willem van Loon
In the afternoon continued on a little south of east for about seven miles.
Explorations in Australia
John Forrest

British Dictionary definitions for seven

seven

noun

the cardinal number that is the sum of six and one and is a prime numberSee also number (def. 1)

a numeral, 7, VII, etc, representing this number

the amount or quantity that is one greater than six

anything representing, represented by, or consisting of seven units, such as a playing card with seven symbols on it

Also called: seven o'clock seven hours after noon or midnight

determiner

amounting to sevenseven swans a-swimming
(as pronoun)you've eaten seven already Related prefixes: hepta-, septi-

Word Origin for seven

Old English seofon; related to Gothic sibun, German sieben, Old Norse sjau, Latin septem, Greek hepta, Sanskrit saptá

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 seven

Old English seofon, from Proto-Germanic *sebun (cf. Old Saxon sibun, Old Norse sjau, Swedish sju, Danish syv, Old Frisian sowen, siugun, Middle Dutch seven, Dutch zeven, Old High German sibun, German sieben, Gothic sibun), from PIE *septm "seven" (cf. Sanskrit sapta, Avestan hapta, Hittite shipta, Greek hepta, Latin septem, Old Church Slavonic sedmi, Lithuanian septyni, Old Irish secht, Welsh saith).

Long regarded as a number of perfection (e.g. seven wonders; seven sleepers, the latter translating Latin septem dormientes; seven against Thebes, etc.), but that notion is late in Old English and in German a nasty, troublesome woman could be eine böse Sieben "an evil seven" (1662).

Magical power or healing skill associated since 16c. with the seventh son ["The seuenth Male Chyld by iust order (neuer a Gyrle or Wench being borne betweene)," Thomas Lupton, "A Thousand Notable Things," 1579]. The typical number for "very great, strong," e.g. seven-league boots in the fairy story of Hop o'my Thumb. The Seven Years' War (1756-63) is also the Third Silesian War.

The Seven Stars (Old English sibunsterri), usually refers to the Pleiades, though in 15c. and after this name occasionally was given to the Big Dipper (which also has seven stars), or the seven planets of classical astronomy. Popular as a tavern sign, it might also (with six in a circle, one in the center) be a Masonic symbol.

FOOL: ... The reason why the
seven stars are no more than seven is a pretty reason.
LEAR: Because they are not eight?
FOOL: Yes, indeed: thou wouldst make a good fool.
["King Lear," Act I, Scene V]

Idioms and Phrases with seven

seven

see at sixes and sevens; in seventh heaven.