Etymology Explorer › English

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

  1. plural of eighty; API pl; The decade of the...

Ancestry of “eighties”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglisheightyThe cardinal number occurring after seventy-nine...
2Middle Englisheightety—
3Old Englishhundeahtatiġ—
4Proto-Germanicahtōutēhundąeighty

Words derived from “eighties”

  • mideighties
  • oughties
Every word from Proto-Germanic ahtōutēhundą →