twenty

twenty
twenty O.E. twentig "group of twenty," from twegen "two" (see TWO (Cf. two)) + -tig "group of ten" (see -TY (Cf. -ty) (1)). Cognate with O.Fris. twintich, Du. twintig, O.H.G. zweinzug, Ger. zwanzig. Goth. twai tigjus is even more transparent: lit. "two tens." Twentieth is O.E. twentigoða. The card game twenty-one (1790) is from Fr. vingt-et-un (1781). Twenty-twenty hindsight is first recorded 1962, a figurative use of the Snellen fraction for normal visual acuity, expressed in feet. The guessing game of twenty questions is recorded from 1786. The Twentieth Century Limited was an express train from New York to Chicago 1902-1967.

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  • Twenty 1 — Studio album by Chicago Released January 29, 1991 …   Wikipedia

  • Twenty — Twen ty, a. [OE. twenty, AS. tw?ntig, twentig; akin to OFris. twintich, OS. tw?ntig, D. & LG. twintig, OHG. zweinzug, G. zwanzig, Goth. twai tigjis; that is, two tens. See {Twain}, {Two}, and {Ten}.] 1. One more that nineteen; twice; as, twenty… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • twenty — [twen′tē, twen′ē, twun′ē] adj. [ME twenti < OE twegentig, lit., two tens (akin to Ger zwanzig, Goth twai tigjus) < twegen, TWAIN + tig, TY2] two times ten n. pl. twenties 1. the cardinal number between nineteen and twenty one; 20; XX ☆ 2 …   English World dictionary

  • Twenty — Twen ty, n.; pl. {Twenties}. 1. The number next following nineteen; the sum of twelve and eight, or twice ten; twenty units or objects; a score. [1913 Webster] 2. A symbol representing twenty units, as 20, or xx. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • twenty — ► CARDINAL NUMBER (pl. twenties) ▪ ten less than thirty; 20. (Roman numeral: xx or XX.) DERIVATIVES twentieth ordinal number. ORIGIN Old English …   English terms dictionary

  • twenty — n. & adj. n. (pl. ies) 1 the product of two and ten. 2 a symbol for this (20, xx, XX). 3 (in pl.) the numbers from 20 to 29, esp. the years of a century or of a person s life. 4 colloq. a large indefinite number (have told you twenty times). adj …   Useful english dictionary

  • twenty — noun (plural twenties) Etymology: Middle English, from twenty, adjective, from Old English twēntig, noun, group of 20, from twēn (akin to Old English twā two) + tig group of 10; akin to Old English tīen ten more at two, ten Date: 13th century 1.… …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • twenty — twen|ty [ˈtwenti] number, n [: Old English; Origin: twentig] 1.) the number 20 ▪ a small village twenty miles from Nairobi ▪ I m nearly twenty (=20 years old) . 2.) the twenties [plural] also the 20s, the 1920s the years from 1920 to 1929 ▪ In… …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • twenty — /twen tee, twun /, n., pl. twenties, adj. n. 1. a cardinal number, 10 times 2. 2. a symbol for this number, as 20 or XX. 3. a set of this many persons or things. 4. Informal. a twenty dollar bill: Can you give me two tens for a twenty? 5.… …   Universalium

  • twenty — noun /ˈtwɛn.ti,ˈtwɛɾ̃i,ˈtwʌɾ̃i/ a) A banknote with a denomination of $20. The waiter’s face lit up when I gave him a twenty. b) 10 20 (location). What’s your twenty, good buddy? …   Wiktionary

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