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• ten
  ten

  noun

  a cardinal number, nine plus one.
• ten.
  ten.

  abbreviation

  tenor.
• ten-
  ten-

  combining form

  a variant of teno-

ten

¹ American  

[ten] / tɛn /

noun

tens plural

1. a cardinal number, nine plus one.

2. a symbol for this number, as 10 or X.

3. a set of this many persons or things.

4. a playing card with ten pips.

5. Informal. a ten-dollar bill.

   She had two tens and a five in her purse.

6. Also called ten's place.  Mathematics.

   1. (in a mixed number) the position of the second digit to the left of the decimal point.

   2. (in a whole number) the position of the second digit from the right.

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adjective

1. amounting to ten in number.

idioms

1. take ten, to rest from what one is doing, especially for ten minutes.

ten. ² American  

abbreviation

1. tenor.

2. Music. tenuto.

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ten ¹ British  

/ tɛn /

noun

1. the cardinal number that is the sum of nine and one. It is the base of the decimal number system and the base of the common logarithm See also number

2. a numeral, 10, X, etc, representing this number

3. something representing, represented by, or consisting of ten units, such as a playing card with ten symbols on it

4. Also called: ten o'clock.  ten hours after noon or midnight

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determiner

1. 1. amounting to ten

      ten tigers

   2. ( as pronoun )

      to sell only ten

ten- ² British  

combining form

1. a variant of teno-

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ten More Idioms  

1. see count to ten; not touch with a ten-foot pole.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• tens
  plural

Etymology

Origin of ten

before 900; Middle English ten ( e ), tenn ( e ), Old English tēn ( e ), tīen ( e ); cognate with Dutch tien, German zehn, Old Norse tīu, Gothic taihun, Latin decem, Greek déka, Sanskrit daśa

Example Sentences

Rescuers had provided him with more than ten liters of water to keep him hydrated via a hose and installed a tube to provide him with oxygen.

From Barron's • Jul. 3, 2026

"We've now got probably about eight to ten smaller dams that have been built," Boles added.

From BBC • Jul. 1, 2026

"We should be aware of these false-negative results," says lead author Inge Loes ten Kate, professor of astrobiology at Utrecht University and the University of Amsterdam.

From Science Daily • Jun. 30, 2026

“The best set of official PMI readings in ten months suggests that China’s economy has regained some momentum,” said Julian Evans-Pritchard, head of China economics at Capital Economics.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 30, 2026

No games past eight o’clock, bedtime at ten.

From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly