eighty

[ ey-tee ]

noun

, plural eight·ies.

1. a cardinal number, ten times eight.
2. a symbol for this number, as 80 or LXXX.
3. a set of this many persons or things.
4. eighties, the numbers, years, degrees, or the like, from 80 through 89, as in referring to numbered streets, indicating the years of a lifetime or of a century, or degrees of temperature.

adjective

1. amounting to 80 in number.

eighty

/ ˈeɪtɪ /

noun

1. the cardinal number that is the product of ten and eight See also number
2. a numeral, 80, LXXX, etc, representing this number
3. plural the numbers 80–89, esp a person's age or the year of a particular century
4. the amount or quantity that is eight times as big as ten
5. something represented by, representing, or consisting of 80 units

determiner

1. 1. amounting to eighty

      eighty pages of nonsense

   2. ( as pronoun )

      eighty are expected

Word History and Origins

Origin of eighty¹

before 850; Middle English eighteti, Old English eahtatig. See eight, -ty ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of eighty¹

Old English eahtatig; related to Old Frisian achtig, Old High German ahtozug

Example Sentences

A survey published last year estimated that Australians worked on average two hundred and eighty one hours of unpaid overtime annually.

From BBC

He is now eighty years old, and has been smoking since he was fifteen.

From Salon

Her traumatised mother removed all evidence of him from their home, and although she lived into her eighties, never spoke of him again.

From BBC

“Arthur, in his eighties, was surrounded by admirers, yet alone. His refinery loomed in the background … but his family was torn asunder,” Poitras wrote.

From Seattle Times

The caravan gorged itself for two days and grew in size to eighty camels, fifty tarpan horses, and forty mules.

From Literature

How Do You Spell 80?

Spelling tips for 80

The word eighty (80) is hard to spell for two reasons. First, it is not spelled the way it sounds [ ey-tee ]. Second, it is tempting to use a double t because the base word (eight) ends in a t and the suffix -ty begins with one.  

How to spell eighty: To spell eighty, you start by correctly spelling the first syllable [ ey ]. The easiest way to remember how to spell eigh- is with the classic mnemonic device: “I before E, except after C, except when it’s pronounced like a long A, as in neighbor and weigh.” The collection of letters eigh often makes a long A sound [ ey ].