fifty

UK/ˈfɪfti/US/ˈfɪfti/

nounA1Very rare — outside the 30,000 commonest English words, so you will meet it in writing rather than in speech — five sits at #157neutral

Other forms: fifties

Fifty is five times ten, half of one hundred. Fifty pounds, over fifty, fifty per cent.

Fifty-fifty means split evenly and is used of chances as much as of shares. A fifty in cricket is a half-century and is acknowledged by the crowd, which is a small ritual of the game.

Definitions of fifty

1nounfiftyFive times ten — half of one hundred.A1
“My mum turns fifty next month, and we're planning a surprise party.”

fifty is a number.

Where it comes from

Old English fiftig is five plus a suffix meaning tens.

Proto-Indo-European
*pénkʷe
Middle English
fifty
English, today
fifty

From Middle English fifty. From Middle English fifty, from Old English fīftiġ, from Proto-Germanic fimf tigiwiz (“five tens”). by surface analysis, five + -ty.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

← Vocabulary

fifty

UK/ˈfɪfti/US/ˈfɪfti/

nounA1Very rare — outside the 30,000 commonest English words, so you will meet it in writing rather than in speech — five sits at #157neutral

Other forms: fifties

Fifty is five times ten, half of one hundred. Fifty pounds, over fifty, fifty per cent.

Fifty-fifty means split evenly and is used of chances as much as of shares. A fifty in cricket is a half-century and is acknowledged by the crowd, which is a small ritual of the game.

Definitions of fifty

1nounfiftyFive times ten — half of one hundred.A1
“My mum turns fifty next month, and we're planning a surprise party.”

fifty is a number.

Where it comes from

Old English fiftig is five plus a suffix meaning tens.

Proto-Indo-European
*pénkʷe
Middle English
fifty
English, today
fifty

From Middle English fifty. From Middle English fifty, from Old English fīftiġ, from Proto-Germanic fimf tigiwiz (“five tens”). by surface analysis, five + -ty.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA