seven

[ sev-uhn ]

noun

1. a cardinal number, 6 plus 1.
2. a symbol for this number, as 7 or VII.
3. a set of this many persons or things.
4. a playing card with seven pips.
5. sevens, (used with a singular verb) fan-tan ( def 1 ).

adjective

1. amounting to seven in number.

verb phrase

1. crap ²( def 3a ).

seven

/ ˈsɛvən /

noun

1. the cardinal number that is the sum of six and one and is a prime number See also number
2. a numeral, 7, VII, etc, representing this number
3. the amount or quantity that is one greater than six
4. anything representing, represented by, or consisting of seven units, such as a playing card with seven symbols on it
5. Also calledseven o'clock seven hours after noon or midnight

determiner

1. 1. amounting to seven

      seven swans a-swimming

   2. ( as pronoun ) hepta-septi-

      you've eaten seven already

Word History and Origins

Origin of seven¹

before 900; Middle English seoven ( e ), seofne, seven, Old English seofon; cognate with German sieben, Gothic sibun; akin to Old Irish secht, Welsh saith, Latin septem, Greek heptá, Polish siedem, Sanskrit saptá

Word History and Origins

Origin of seven¹

Old English seofon; related to Gothic sibun, German sieben, Old Norse sjau, Latin septem, Greek hepta, Sanskrit saptá

Idioms and Phrases

see at sixes and sevens ; in seventh heaven .

Example Sentences

Unlike kids in the United States, hunter-gatherer children in the Congo Basin have often learned how to hunt, identify edible plants and care for babies by the tender age of six or seven.

From Science Daily

Even with seven players removed from its roster because of ineligibility, the Gauchos still have quarterback Jaden O’Neal, an Oklahoma commit, and running back/linebacker Mark Iheanachor, a Southern Methodist commit.

From Los Angeles Times

The agency's first responders had also recovered the bodies of seven people killed in an overnight Israeli strike on a house in Jabalia, he added.

From BBC

The prosecutions at Great Yarmouth Magistrates' Court on Friday concerned 11 children, aged between seven and 15, and all registered at schools in the local area.

From BBC

Within minutes, the mother of seven and grandmother of 14 lay dying in the dust of the olive grove, with a bullet wound in her chest - she’d been shot by an Israeli soldier.

From BBC