fifteen

[ fif-teen ]

noun

1. a cardinal number, ten plus five.
2. a symbol for this number, as 15 or XV.
3. a set of this many persons or things.

adjective

1. amounting to 15 in number.

Fifteen

¹

/ ˈfɪfˈtiːn /

noun

1. the Fifteen
   history the Jacobite rising of 1715

fifteen

²

/ ˈfɪfˈtiːn /

noun

1. the cardinal number that is the sum of ten and five
2. a numeral, 15, XV, etc, representing this number
3. something represented by, representing, or consisting of 15 units
4. a rugby union football team

determiner

1. 1. amounting to fifteen

      fifteen jokes

   2. ( as pronoun )

      fifteen of us danced

Word History and Origins

Origin of fifteen¹

before 900; Middle English, Old English fiftene. See five, -teen

Word History and Origins

Origin of fifteen¹

Old English fīftēne

Example Sentences

In total, fifteen Together At Christmas services will take place around the country, including at the Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro and Blackpool Tower Circus.

From BBC

He was gifted with a superhuman taste sensitivity: He could easily distinguish a flavor at one ten thousandth of a gram in a fifteen ton batch.

From Salon

More than 3.2 million people remain without power throughout Florida and evacuation orders have been in place for 7.2 million people in fifteen Florida counties.

From Salon

Shockwaves erupted across South Africa when gunmen opened fire on two homes, killing fifteen women and three men.

From BBC

“For them, it wasn't a rift or a fight,” says Lindsay-Hogg, “it was two people talking about something to do with the music, as they had for the last fifteen years.”

From Salon

How Do You Spell Fifteen?

Spelling tips for fifteen

The word fifteen is hard to spell because it doesn’t simply combine the spelling of the base number, five, with the suffix -teen, as is done in other easy-to-remember spellings like fourteen and sixteen.  

How to spell fifteen: When five is combined with suffixes, the ve is turned into an f: fifteen (not fiveteen), fifty (not fivety), and fifth (not fiveth). Remember: there’s no v in fifteen.