Eighteen

How to spell eighteen

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce eighteen

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does eighteen mean?

1. otherThe cardinal number that comes after seventeen and before nineteen; 18.

Eighteen in a sentence

• In most countries you can vote once you turn eighteen.

• The bus stops at exactly eighteen different points along the route.

Where does eighteen come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

The word descends from Old English eahtatiene, a straightforward compound of eahta meaning 'eight' and the suffix -tiene, an older form of 'ten'. The -teen ending is simply a worn-down version of the word ten, attached to the digits from thirteen through nineteen to mean 'and ten more'. The eight part traces back through the Germanic family to the same ancient root that gave Latin octo and Greek okto, both also meaning 'eight', which is why we still see oct- in words like October and octopus. The tricky spelling comes from the silent 'gh' in eight, a relic of an old guttural sound that the Anglo-Saxons actually pronounced but which English speakers stopped voicing centuries ago. That fossilised 'gh' is the main trap: the word sounds like 'ay-teen' yet keeps its historical eigh- cluster.

How the word is built

• eight (the number 8)
• -teen (suffix meaning 'ten more', from Old English tien 'ten')