sixteen

American  

[siks-teen] / ˈsɪksˈtin /

noun

sixteens plural

1. a cardinal number, ten plus six.

2. a symbol for this number, as 16 or XVI.

3. a set of this many persons or things.

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adjective

1. amounting to 16 in number.

sixteen British  

/ ˈsɪksˈtiːn /

noun

1. the cardinal number that is the sum of ten and six See also number

2. a numeral, 16, XVI, etc, representing this number

3. music the numeral 16 used as the lower figure of a time signature to indicate that the beat is measured in semiquavers

4. something represented by, representing, or consisting of 16 units

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determiner

1. 1. amounting to sixteen

      sixteen tons

   2. ( as pronoun )

      sixteen are known to the police

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• sixteens
  plural

Etymology

Origin of sixteen

before 900; Middle English, Old English sixtēne; cognate with Dutch zestien, German sechzehn, Old Norse sextān. See six, -teen

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

sixteen sixteens

He was previously posted to Moscow, and his memoir about his time in Russia, “This Cursed Beautiful Land”—including the sixteen months he spent in prison on false espionage charges—will be published in September 2026.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026

All sixteen analysts that cover the stock have it rated a Buy and the consensus price target of just over $32 is more than 60% higher than its current price.

From Barron's ● Jan. 5, 2026

She will be buoyed by her run to the last sixteen in Indian Wells last month and playing on a surface which "enhances my game style even more".

From BBC ● Apr. 10, 2025

In a 2009 episode, Winfrey staged an intervention for sixteen teenagers living with obesity in hopes of helping them take control of their health with guided assistance from medical counselors and professionals.

From Salon ● Mar. 22, 2024

I turn sixteen on my actual birthday, and Mom gets me the new swimsuit and the brown calf-high boots I wanted.

From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam

A Harvard Medical School lecturer, she worries that lavish ultrasound parties will lead to extravagant first birthday parties, sweet sixteens and weddings as parents try to one-up themselves.

From Washington Times ● May 15, 2016

I find myself standing in a clump of sixteens from the Seam.

From "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins

He liked eights best, but he’d settle for fours, sixes, twelves, sixteens, any even number, really.

From "The Reader" by Traci Chee

Don’t give him all the page sixteens when you come back.

From "Angela's Ashes: A Memoir" by Frank McCourt

Our sixteens were at our side, too jammed between us and the walls of the hole to use.

From "Fallen Angels" by Walter Dean Myers