seventeen

[ sev-uhn-teen ]

/ ˈsɛv ənˈtin /

Save This Word!

noun

a cardinal number, 10 plus 7.

a symbol for this number, as 17 or XVII.

a set of this many persons or things.

adjective

amounting to 17 in number.

(initial capital letter, italics) a novel (1916) by Booth Tarkington.

QUIZ

THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?

Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.

Question 1 of 7

In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

candystring

candyfloss

candypuff

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of seventeen

before 900; Middle English seventene,Old English seofontēne (cognate with Dutch zeventien,German siebzehn). See seven, -teen

Words nearby seventeen

seven seas, seven-segment display, seven-seven, Seven Sleepers, seven-spot, seventeen, seventeenth, Seventeenth Amendment, seventeen-year locust, seventh, Seventh Amendment

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

How to use seventeen in a sentence

Seventeen-year-old Edgar Gonzalez formed one half of the group Doble Filo.
Cuban Hip-Hop Was Born in Alamar|Daniel Levin|December 26, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Seventeen-year-old Kai Dionne jumps into a half-frozen river to save his dog, Talia, and the 24-hour drama begins.
Book Bag: Gritty Stories From the Real Montana|Carrie La Seur|October 2, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Seventeen-year-old high school senior Julia Khoroshilov spent the past two weeks working for runway casting director Zan Casting.
Does Fashion Week Exploit Teen Models?|Jennifer Sky|September 14, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Thousand bucks a movie, seventeen informative minutes in length.
Elmore Leonard’s Rocky Road to Fame and Fortune|Mike Lupica|September 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST

In 1973, he was convicted on seventeen counts and sentenced to three years in federal prison.
A Brief History of the Phrase 'F*ck the Police'|Rich Goldstein|August 23, 2014|DAILY BEAST
These words were uttered in a guarded whisper by a boy about seventeen years of age, to a great dog that stood by his side.
The Courier of the Ozarks|Byron A. Dunn
There were only seventeen stations on the whole line, over which the first passenger train ran on Sept. 17.
Showell's Dictionary of Birmingham|Thomas T. Harman and Walter Showell
"He 's getting well," thought Black Sheep, who knew the song through all its seventeen verses.
Kipling Stories and Poems Every Child Should Know, Book II|Rudyard Kipling
The duty was seventeen millions and a half pounds raised one foot high for each bushel of coals.
Life of Richard Trevithick, Volume II (of 2)|Francis Trevithick
That first report enumerates twelve pumping-engines, probably all of them Watt engines, averaging a duty of seventeen millions.
Life of Richard Trevithick, Volume II (of 2)|Francis Trevithick

British Dictionary definitions for seventeen

seventeen

/ (ˈsɛvənˈtiːn) /

noun

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

a numeral, 17, XVII, etc, representing this number

the amount or quantity that is seven more than ten

something represented by, representing, or consisting of 17 units

determiner

amounting to seventeenseventeen attempts
(as pronoun)seventeen were sold

Word Origin for seventeen

Old English seofontīene

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