eight

views updated May 21 2018

eight / āt/ • cardinal number equivalent to the product of two and four; one more than seven, or two less than ten; 8. (Roman numeral: viii or VIII.) ∎  a group or unit of eight people or things: the win placed Canada closer to the final eight. ∎  eight years old: children as young as eight. ∎  eight o'clock: in time for dinner at eight. ∎ short for figure eight. ∎  a size of garment or other merchandise denoted by eight. ∎  an eight-cylinder engine or a motor vehicle with such an engine. ∎  a playing card with eight pips. ∎  an eight-oared rowboat or its crew.ORIGIN: Old English ehta, eahta, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch and German acht, from an Indo-European root shared by Latin octo and Greek oktō.

eight

views updated May 21 2018

eight OE. ehta (eahta) = OS., OHG. ahto (Du., G. acht), ON. átta, Goth. ahtau, corr. to L. octō, Gr. oktṓ, (O)Ir. ocht, W. wyth, Lith. aštuonì, Skr. aşṭáu, Av. ašta.
So eighteen OE. e(a)htatēne = OS. ahtotian (Du. achttien), OHG. ahtozehan (G. achtzehn), ON. áttján; see -TEEN. eighteenth ME. eʒtetenthe, repl. OE. e(a)htotēaǒa; see -TH2. eighth OE. e(a)htoǒa = OHG. ahtodo (G. achte); see -TH2. eightieth (-ETH1). eighty ME. eʒteti, repl. OE. hunde(a)htatiġ; see HUNDRED and -TY1.

eight

views updated May 17 2018

eight the word is recorded from Old English (in form ehta, eahta) and is of Germanic origin; it comes from an Indo-European root shared by Latin octo and Greek oktō.
The Eight is the name given to a group of American realist painters who exhibited together in 1908, united by a concern to involve painting with the realities of contemporary, especially urban, life.
behind the eight ball (chiefly in North American usage) at a disadvantage; in a variety of the game of pool, the black ball is numbered eight.
have one over the eight have one drink too many, probably from the assumption that the average person can drink eight pints of beer without getting drunk.

Eight

views updated May 23 2018

Eight

a rowing crew, 1847; the number of leaves in a section or gathering of an early printed book, 1858.