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

Seventy : a Latter-day Saint 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

New York was in the process of repealing many of the punitive drug laws that were passed under Governor Nelson Rockefeller in the nineteen-seventies. —Jason Zengerle, New Yorker, 18 May 2026

In the late seventies, the NASL was a traveling circus. —Literary Hub, 18 May 2026

Lillian RandolphWendy Holman Wendy Holman is in her late seventies now. —Sarah Dahlberg, NBC news, 10 May 2026

Like my mother, Nina was Jewish and from the New York area and had made her way to Maine in the seventies. —Jennifer Acker, PEOPLE, 8 May 2026

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