eight

a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison.

a gadget; dingus; thingumbob.

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Origin:
before 1000; Middle English eighte, Old English (e)ahta; cognate with Dutch acht, Old Saxon, Old High German ahto (German acht), Old Norse ātta, Gothic ahtau, Latin octō, Greek oktṓ, Old Irish ocht, Welsh wyth, Breton eiz, Tocharian B okt, Lithuanian aštuonì, Albanian tetë, Armenian uth, Persian hasht, Sanskrit aṣṭáu; apparently an old dual in form, but not clear of what

Can be confused: ate, eight.

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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To eight

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World English Dictionary

eight (eɪt)

—n
1.	See also number the cardinal number that is the sum of one and seven and the product of two and four
2.	a numeral, 8, VIII, etc, representing this number
3.	music the numeral 8 used as the lower figure in a time signature to indicate that the beat is measured in quavers
4.	the amount or quantity that is one greater than seven
5.	something representing, represented by, or consisting of eight units, such as a playing card with eight symbols on it
6.	rowing
	a. a racing shell propelled by eight oarsmen
	b. the crew of such a shell
7.	Also called: eight o'clock eight hours after noon or midnight
8.	slang have one over the eight to be drunk
9.	See figure of eight

—*determiner*
10.	a. amounting to eight
	b. (as pronoun): I could only find eight

Related: octa-, octo-

[Old English eahta; related to Old High German ahto, Old Norse ātta, Old Irish ocht, Latin octō, Greek okto, Sanskrit astau]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

eight

O.E. eahta, æhta, from P.Gmc. *akhto(u) (cf. O.N. atta, Ger. acht, Goth. ahtau), from PIE *okto (cf. Gk. okto, L. octo, O.Ir. ocht-n, Bret. eiz, Skt. astau, Avestan ashta). Klein calls it "an old dual form, orig. meaning 'twice four.' " Meaning "eight-man crew of a rowing boat" is from 1847. The

Spanish piece of eight (1690s) was so called because it was worth eight reals. To be behind the eight ball "in trouble" (1932) is a metaphor from shooting pool.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage

Idioms & Phrases

eight

see behind the eight ball.