different between twenties vs twenty

English

Alternative forms

• (of the decade) 'twenties

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -?ntiz

Noun

twenties

1. plural of twenty

twenties pl (plural only)

1. The decade of the 1820s, 1920s, 2020s, etc.

   My roommates said they were hosting a party inspired by the twenties which I assumed meant the 1920s but it turned out the theme was the 1120s BCE.

2. The decade of one's life from age 20 through age 29.

   The waiter was in his twenties.

   • 1954 "The Fellowship of the Ring", J.R.R. Tolkien

     At that time Frodo was still in his tweens, as the hobbits called the irresponsible twenties between childhood and coming of age at thirty-three.

3. (temperature, rates, plural only) The range between 20 and 29.

   She shivered; twenties by the water felt different than twenties in the mountains.

Synonyms

• 1920s, 2020s, '20s, 20s

Translations

See also

• tween
• twentysomething
• vicenarian

Adjective

twenties (not comparable)

1. From or evoking the 21st through 30th years of a century (chiefly the 1920s).

   That bob haircut makes you look so twenties.

Anagrams

• tentwise

English

Alternative forms

• Arabic numerals: 20 (see for numerical forms in other scripts)
• Roman numerals: XX

Etymology

From Middle English twenty, twenti, from Old English tw?nti? (“twenty”, literally “two tens”), from Proto-Germanic *twaintigiwiz, *twai tigiwiz, an old compound of *twain- (“two”) +? *-tigaz (“group of ten”), equivalent to two +? -ty, or twain +? -ty. Cognate with Scots twenty, tuenty (“twenty”), West Frisian tweintich (“twenty”), Dutch twintig (“twenty”), German zwanzig (“twenty”), Danish tyve.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?tw?nti/, [?tw???nti]
• (General American) enPR: tw?n?t?, IPA^(key): /?tw?nti/, [?tw????i], /?tw?ni/, [?tw?????i]
• (parts of the US and Canada) IPA^(key): /?tw?n(t)i/, /?tw?n(t)i/
• Rhymes: -?nti, -?nti

Numeral

twenty

1. The cardinal number 20, occurring after nineteen and before twenty-one.

Derived terms

Synonyms

Descendants

• Tok Pisin: twenti

Translations

Noun

twenty (plural twenties)

1. (colloquial) A banknote with a denomination of 20.

   The waiter’s face lit up when I gave him a twenty.
2. (CB slang) 10-20 (location).

   What’s your twenty, good buddy?
3. (Britain, historical, military) An old English division of infantry.

Translations

Middle English

Numeral

twenty

1. Alternative form of twenti