seventy

noun

sev·​en·​ty ˈse-vən-tē 

ˈse-bᵊm-,

-dē

plural seventies

1

: a number equal to seven times 10 see Table of Numbers

2

seventies plural : the numbers 70 to 79

specifically : the years 70 to 79 in a lifetime or century

3

capitalized : a Mormon elder ordained for missionary work under the apostles

seventieth

ˈse-vən-tē-əth 

ˈse-bᵊm-

-dē-

adjective or noun

seventy adjective

seventy pronoun, plural in construction

Examples of seventy in a Sentence

She is in her seventies.

Recent Examples on the Web

The answer, happily, was this warm, personal film about a Brooklyn family in the seventies led by Delroy Lindo and Alfre Woodard. —Tim Grierson, Vulture, 16 Aug. 2025

This actually happened to me in St Albans, Vermont, back in the seventies. —Cressida Leyshon, New Yorker, 10 Aug. 2025

And in the seventies, the discovery was made that black holes radiate, that quantum processes are responsible for this, and that this radiation could be captured by purely spatial geometries. —Quanta Magazine, 24 July 2025

Seventeen states had their warmest year on record in 2024, and the past five years have seen the average number of heat waves across the U.S. increase to more than six a year, up from four in the nineties and fewer than three in the seventies. —Melanie Haiken, Outside Online, 23 July 2025

Word History

Etymology

seventy, adjective, from Middle English, from Old English seofontig, short for hundseofontig, from hundseofontig, noun, group of seventy, from hund hundred + seofon seven + -tig group of ten; akin to Old English tīen ten

First Known Use

12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing seventy

• seventy-eight

Kids Definition

seventy

noun

sev·​en·​ty ˈsev-ən-tē 

plural seventies

: a number equal to seven times 10 see number

seventieth

-tē-əth 

adjective or noun

seventy adjective or pronoun