fifty
FIHF-tee
Fifty (num) means the number after forty-nine and before fifty-one; 50. Example: “The room was filled with fifty guests.”
num
1
The number after forty-nine and before fifty-one; 50.
"It was just fifty children that Selene bore to Endymion. Are not the innumerable waves typified by the fifty Nereïds? And did not Priam have fifty sons and fifty daughters?"
— Herbert Weir Smyth, II. The Suppliant Maidens (1924)
"The room was filled with fifty guests."
"My grandfather turned fifty last week and had a quiet dinner."
"It takes about fifty minutes to walk from the station to the lake."
"Searching again, he noticed something that had eluded him before: a single flower, a gentian, blooming not fifty feet in front of them, where, by all rights, there ought to be solid rock."
— Christopher Paolini, Assault on Helgrind (2008)
noun
1
A banknote or coin worth fifty units of currency.
"He paid for the meal with a crisp fifty."
"The cashier checked the fifty carefully before putting it in the till."
"Do you have change for a fifty?"
"Do you want small bills or are fifties OK?"
How to use fifty
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishThe number 50, or a fifty-unit banknote.
Common pairings
fifty-fifty
a fifty-dollar bill
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Word forms
- Plural
- fifties
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The room was filled with _____ guests.
Etymology
From Old English fiftig, meaning literally "five tens."
Synonyms
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L
50
fifty dollar bill
Related words
Rhymes for fifty
See all rhymes for fifty →Frequently asked questions
What does “fifty” mean?
The word “fifty” means the number after forty-nine and before fifty-one; 50. In plain terms, the number 50, or a fifty-unit banknote.
How do you pronounce “fifty”?
“Fifty” is pronounced FIHF-tee (/ˈfɪfti/ in IPA).
How do you use “fifty” in a sentence?
Here is “fifty” used in a sentence: “The room was filled with fifty guests.”
What part of speech is “fifty”?
Depending on how it is used, “fifty” can be a num and a noun.
Where does the word “fifty” come from?
The word “fifty” comes from Old English. From Old English fiftig, meaning literally "five tens.".
Is “fifty” a common word?
“Fifty” is a fairly common word in modern English, usually learned at around the A1 level.
How many meanings does “fifty” have?
“Fifty” has 2 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: the number after forty-nine and before fifty-one; 50.
When should you hyphenate 'fifty' in numbers like 'fifty-two'?
Compound numbers from twenty-one to ninety-nine are hyphenated, so you write 'fifty-two' and 'fifty-five.' 'Fifty' on its own takes no hyphen, and in larger numbers such as 'fifty thousand' it stays a separate word.
What is the difference between 'fifty' and 'fiftieth'?
'Fifty' is the cardinal number 50 used for counting, while 'fiftieth' is the ordinal form showing position in a sequence, as in a fiftieth birthday or the fiftieth floor.
Should you write 'fifty' or '50' in formal writing?
Many style guides spell out whole numbers below one hundred in running prose, so 'fifty' is common in formal text. Figures like '50' are preferred in technical, statistical, or informal writing and alongside units.
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