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thirties

 - 3 dictionary results

thir⋅ty

  [thur-tee] noun, plural -ties, adjective
Use thirties in a Sentence
–noun
1. a cardinal number, 10 times 3.
2. a symbol for this number, as 30 or XXX.
3. a set of this many persons or things.
4. Printing, Journalism. 30-dash.
5. thirties, the numbers, years, degrees, or the like, from 30 through 39, as in referring to numbered streets, indicating the years of a lifetime or of a century, or referring to degrees of temperature: He works in the East Thirties. She must be in her thirties. The temperature was in the thirties yesterday.
–adjective
6. amounting to 30 in number.
Origin:
bef. 900; ME thritty, OE thrītig, equiv. to thrī three + -tig -ty 1 ; c. D dertig, G dreissig, ON thrjātīu
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To thirties
thir·ty   (thûr'tē)   
n.   pl. thir·ties

  1. The cardinal number equal to 3 × 10.

  2. thirties

    1. A decade or the numbers from 30 to 39: They settled down in their thirties. The temperature fell into the thirties.

    2. often Thirties The decade from 30 to 39 in a century.

  3. An indication of the end of a news story, usually written 30.

  4. Sports The second point that is scored by one side in tennis.


[Middle English thritty, thirty, from Old English thrītig; see trei- in Indo-European roots.]
thir'ty adj. & pron.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

thirty 
c.1413, metathesis of O.E. þritig, from þri, þreo "three" + -tig "group of ten" (see -ty (1)). Cf. O.Fris. thritich, O.S. thritig, Du. dertig, O.H.G. drizzug, Ger. dreissig. Thirty Years' War (1842) was a religious power struggle waged 1618-48, mainly on Ger. soil. The symbol -30- as printer and telegrapher's code to indicate the last sheet or line of copy or a dispatch is recorded from 1895. In 20c. jargon of journalism, it came to be a traditional sign-off signal and slang word for "the end."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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