seventy

noun

sev·​en·​ty ˈse-vən-tē How to pronounce seventy (audio)
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 How to pronounce seventy (audio)
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 Hur’s parents arrived in the U.S. in the early seventies, and he was born soon after. Jeannie Suk Gersen, The New Yorker, 22 Mar. 2024 This was particularly true at Ayotzinapa, thanks to a long guerrilla tradition: multiple campesino movements had flourished in Guerrero in the sixties and seventies, and two of their leaders, Lucio Cabañas and Genaro Vázquez Rojas, had close ties to the school. Alma Guillermoprieto, The New Yorker, 4 Mar. 2024 In their seventies, Americans watch their net worth finally begin to decline. USA TODAY, 14 Jan. 2024 The shield is a nod to the original shield that the team wore in the seventies. Cassell Ferere, Forbes, 12 Feb. 2024 And in the sixties and seventies, like, there was an era of mathematics where abstraction was making huge strides in simplifying and unifying a lot of mathematics that was previously very empirical. Quanta Magazine, 1 Feb. 2024 In 1979, Maurice Oberstein, an American record man who helped build CBS Records U.K. into a powerhouse in the late seventies, hired Grainge as an A. & R. scout on the publishing side. John Seabrook, The New Yorker, 29 Jan. 2024 The members, now in their seventies, had been laying low ever since. Pat Saperstein, Variety, 17 Jan. 2024 Now where is that bottle of wine—for the recipe? Get The Recipe 06 of 15 Quiche Lorraine Fast and fancy, a quiche was featured in nearly every issue of the seventies, but none was more popular than Quiche Lorraine. Southern Living Editors, Southern Living, 3 Jan. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'seventy.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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

Time Traveler
The first known use of seventy was in the 12th century

Dictionary Entries Near seventy

Cite this Entry

“Seventy.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/seventy. Accessed 29 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

seventy

noun
sev·​en·​ty ˈsev-ən-tē How to pronounce seventy (audio)
plural seventies
: a number equal to seven times 10 see number
seventieth adjective or noun
seventy adjective or pronoun

More from Merriam-Webster on seventy

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!