twenty

[twen-tee, twuhn-]

noun

plural

twenties 

1. a cardinal number, 10 times 2.

2. a symbol for this number, as 20 or XX.

3. a set of this many persons or things.

4. Informal.,  a twenty-dollar bill.

   Can you give me two tens for a twenty?

5. twenties, the numbers, years, degrees, or the like, from 20 through 29, as in referring to numbered streets, indicating the years of a lifetime or of a century, or referring to degrees of temperature.

   He lives in the West Twenties. She's in her early twenties. The temperature must be in the high twenties today.

6. Slang.,  Also 20 location; ten-twenty.

   What’s your twenty?

adjective

1. amounting to 20 in number.

twenty

/ ˈtwɛntɪ /

noun

1. the cardinal number that is the product of ten and two; a score See also number

2. a numeral, 20, XX, etc, representing this number

3. something representing, represented by, or consisting of 20 units

determiner

1. 1. amounting to twenty

      twenty questions

   2. ( as pronoun )

      to order twenty

Word History and Origins

Origin of twenty¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English twēntig; cognate with Old Frisian tw(e)intich, Old High German zweinzug ( German zwanzig ), Gothic twai tigjus two tens

Word History and Origins

Origin of twenty¹

Old English twēntig ; related to Old High German zweinzug , German zwanzig

Example Sentences

Ten, fifteen, or twenty at a time would clutch at the tape, as it streamed out with its endless lines of quotations,” Miller wrote in the Chicago Tribune of Oct.

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After a chilly end to September and start to October across the UK, temperatures on Monday peaked in the low twenties in Celsius in central and south-east England and north-east Scotland, above the seasonal average.

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Undeterred, she moved to Germany in her twenties to build a career abroad.

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A runner will secure a place on the ballot paper if they are endorsed by at least twenty members of the Irish Parliament, known as the Oireachtas.

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Speaking to political editor Chris Mason, Sir Keir said: "We all carry a lot more digital ID now than we did twenty years ago, and I think that psychologically, it plays a different part."

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