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eight

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eight¹

  • /eɪt/ US, UK
  • /eʈ/ India, North
  • /ɛ(j)ʈ/ India, South

Sounds like ait (general), ate, eyot (one pronunciation) · Rhymes with -eɪt

Where it comes from

PIE word

*oḱtṓw

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *oḱtṓw

Proto-Germanic *ahtōu

Proto-West Germanic *ahtō

Old English eahta

Middle English eighte

English eight

From Middle English eighte, aught, eahte, ahte, from Old English eahta, from Proto-West Germanic *ahtō, from Proto-Germanic *ahtōu, from Proto-Indo-European *oḱtṓw.

Cognate with Scots aucht (“eight”), West Frisian acht (“eight”), Dutch acht (“eight”), Low German acht (“eight”), German acht (“eight”), Norwegian åtte (“eight”), Swedish åtta (“eight”), Icelandic átta (“eight”), Latin octo (“eight”), Ancient Greek ὀκτώ (oktṓ), Irish ocht (“eight”), among others. False cognate of Tamil எட்டு (eṭṭu), Malayalam എട്ട് (eṭṭŭ).

number aught

  1. A numerical value equal to 8; the number occurring after seven and before nine. Jon & Kate Plus 8 is a show based on two facts: 1) Jon and Kate Gosselin have eight children, and 2) the word ‘Kate’ rhymes with the word ‘eight’. One suspects that if Kate were ever to have another child, a shady network executive would urge her to put it in a binbag with a brick and drop it down a
  2. Describing a group or set with eight elements. He works eight hours a day.

noun eights · aught

  1. The digit/figure 8.
  2. Any of the four cards in a normal deck with the value eight.
  3. A light, narrow rowing boat, especially one used in competitive rowing, steered by a cox, in which eight rowers each have two oars.
  4. especially, plural A race in which such craft participate.
  5. The eight people who crew a rowing-boat.
  6. Eight o'clock. About eight on the Saturday morning, she purchases a large sheath-knife in the Palais Royal [...]

adjective aught

  1. not comparable, obsolete Obsolete spelling of eighth.eighth

eight²

Where it comes from

See ait.

noun eights

  1. alternative Alternative spelling of ait (island in a river)ait

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