Where does “eighties” come from?
Eighties comes from Middle English eiȝtety, Old English hundeahtatiġ, and Proto-Germanic ahtōutēhundą, compound forms meaning eight tens.
eighties (English): plural of eighty; API pl; The decade of the...
Definitions
- plural of eighty; API pl; The decade of the...
Ancestry of “eighties”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | eighty | The cardinal number occurring after seventy-nine... |
| 2 | Middle English | eightety | eighty |
| 3 | Old English | hundeahtatiġ | eighty |
| 4 | Proto-Germanic | ahtōutēhundą | eighty |