threescore

American  

[three-skawr, -skohr] / ˈθriˈskɔr, -ˈskoʊr /

adjective

1. being or containing three times twenty; sixty.

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threescore British  

/ ˈθriːˈskɔː /

determiner

1. an archaic word for sixty

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Etymology

Origin of threescore

First recorded in 1350–1400, threescore is from Middle English thre scoor. See three, score

Example Sentences

In the words of the Psalms, “The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow.”

From The Guardian • Aug. 13, 2017

The kings and common folk, courtiers and soldiers in these productions add up to threescore or fourscore.

From New York Times • Jul. 13, 2015

Dante is 35 years old in the Divine Comedy, and when he is going on about being “midway in the journey of our life,” he is measuring against the good old threescore and 10.

From Slate • Apr. 4, 2013

A month later, you are well enough to ride with your brother and sister on the roof of the overloaded bus that bears your family and threescore cramped others to the city.

From The New Yorker • Sep. 17, 2012

The theatres, however, rapidly multiplied, and a writer who lived about 1629 said, “that no less than seventeen playhouses had been built in or about London within threescore years.”

From History of European Morals From Augustus to Charlemagne (Vol. 2 of 2) by Lecky, William Edward Hartpole