Etymology PIE word *pénkʷe Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *pénkʷe Proto-Germanic *fimf Proto-Germanic *tigiwiz Proto-Germanic *fimf tigiwiz Old English fīftiġ Middle English fifty English fifty From Middle English fifty, from Old English fīftiġ, from Proto-Germanic *fimf tigiwiz (“five tens”). By surface analysis, five + -ty.
1
The cardinal number occurring after forty-nine and before fifty-one.
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?1924, Herbert Weir Smyth, “II. The Suppliant Maidens”, in Aeschylean Tragedy, page 51:
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.2008, Christopher Paolini, “Assault on Helgrind”, in Brisingr, page 39:
1 more example
Accounts with between fifty thousand and two hundred thousand followers are considered “microinfluencers,” and tend to have higher engagement rates—that is, a larger share of their followers like, favorite, or comment on their posts—than those with millions of followers.2017 April 17, Rachel Monroe, “#Vanlife, the Bohemian Social-Media Movement”, in The New Yorker, archived from the original on 04 Aug 2017:
Etymology PIE word *pénkʷe Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *pénkʷe Proto-Germanic *fimf Proto-Germanic *tigiwiz Proto-Germanic *fimf tigiwiz Old English fīftiġ Middle English fifty English fifty From Middle English fifty, from Old English fīftiġ, from Proto-Germanic *fimf tigiwiz (“five tens”). By surface analysis, five + -ty.
1
A banknote or coin with a denomination of 50.
Do you want small bills or are fifties OK?
‘If you shoot him I’ll give you fifty pounds.’ ‘All right!’ The driver laughed. ‘I’ll do my best to earn that fifty!’1897, Richard Marsh, The Beetle:
2
Ball games, Cricket, Games, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Sports A batsman's score of at least 50 runs and less than 100 runs.