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seventy

UK/ˈsɛv.ən.ti/US/ˈsɛv.ən.di/
nounA1Very rare — outside the 30,000 commonest English words, so you will meet it in writing rather than in speech — seven sits at #392leans written

Other forms: seventies

Seventy is seven times ten. Seventy years, seventy per cent, over seventy already.

The old psalm gives seventy as a human lifespan, which is where three score and ten comes from. Seventy divides by only seven, ten and their factors, so it is awkward in a way sixty is not.

Definitions of seventy

  1. 1nounseventySeven times ten.A1

    “He retired at seventy and worked for another decade unpaid.”

seventy is a number.

Where it comes from

Old English hundseofontig, from seven plus a form meaning ten.

  1. Proto-Germanic

    *sebuntēhundą — seventy

  2. Old English

    hundseofontiġ

  3. Middle English

    seventy

  4. English, today

    seventy

From Middle English seventy, sevynty, from Old English hundseofontiġ, from Proto-Germanic sebuntēhundą (“seventy”), equivalent to seven + -ty. Cognate with Scots seiventy (“seventy”), stq soogentich (“seventy”), West Frisian santich (“seventy”), Dutch zeventig (“seventy”), German Low German söventig (“seventy”), German siebzig (“seventy”), Swedish sjuttio (“seventy”), Norwegian sytti (“seventy”), Icelandic sjötíu (“seventy”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

seventy in the wild

  • The "seventy-four" was a type of two-decked sailing ship of the line, which nominally carried 74 guns.

    Seventy-four (ship)

  • Impressed with the performance of several captured French seventy-fours, the British Royal Navy quickly adopted similar designs, classing them as third rates.

    Seventy-four (ship)

  • The seventy disciples, known in the Eastern Christian traditions as the seventy apostles, were early emissaries of Jesus mentioned in the Gospel of Luke.

    Seventy disciples

  • The church teaches that the office of seventy was anciently conferred upon the seventy disciples mentioned in the Gospel of Luke 10:1-2.

    Seventy (LDS Church)

  • Multiple individuals holding the office of seventy are referred to collectively as seventies.

    Seventy (LDS Church)

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

  • seven