twenty-three
intjEtymology Uncertain. First attested 17 March 1899.
- Derived terms
- 23 skidoo
- Related terms
- twenty-two, twenty-four, thirty-two
twenty-three
num/ˈtwɛntiˈθɹiː/
Etymology From Middle English twenty-thre, twenti-thre, twenti-thrie, twenty-thrie, ultimately derived from Old English þrēo and twēntiġ (“twenty-three”, literally “three and twenty”); see also three-and-twenty. The reason for the numerical swap across the spellings for all English numbers is unknown, but it may have been influenced by the Old French system, i.e. see vint trois (literally “twenty three”). By surface analysis, twenty (“the cardinal number 20, occurring after nineteen and before twenty-one”) + three (“the cardinal number 3, occurring after two and before four”).
1
The cardinal number immediately following twenty-two and preceding twenty-four; 23.
- Reſolved, &c. That this Houſe doth accept of the Sum of One hundred Twenty-three Pounds of James Whitewick, of Coventry in the County of Warwick, Gentleman; his Delinguency being, That he went and reſided in the Gariſons held againſt the Parliament: Submitted before December 1645: His Eſtate, per Annum, Sixty Pounds; Perſonal Eſstate, Thirty Pounds: For which the Fine, at a Tenth, is One hundred Twenty-three Pounds.1646 October 27, Journals of the House of Commons, House of Commons of the United Kingdom, page 707:
- Admiral Rooke, with twenty-three Men of War, having the Turky Fleet under his Convoy, was attacked off Cape St. Vincent by the whole French Fleet, under the Command of Admiral Tourville; twelve Engliſh and Dutch Men of War, and above four-ſcore Merchant-men, were taken or deſtroyed by the French.1760, A New Geographical and Historical Grammar, 7 edition, W. Johnston, page 311:
3 more examples
- Maryland has exported nearly eight times as much as Connecticut; above six times as much as Rhode Island; twenty-three times as much as New Hampshire; almost eighty times as much as Vermont; and almost three times as much as the four minor states.1817, Mathew Carey, The Olive Branch: Or, Faults on Both Sides, Federal and Democratic; a Serious Appeal on the Necessity of Mutual Forgiveness and Harmony, 8 edition, M. Carey and Son, page 271:
- Avignon was twenty-three kilometres away, on the second-class road N 570. We could be there in about half an hour. And we were, without stopping to admire any antiquities.1953, Gratix Dawson, In Pursuit of the Vine, H. Jenkins, page 196:
- Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. His mother's name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah; she was from Libnah.2011, Biblica, Holy Bible: New International Version, Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, →ISBN, 2 Kings 23:31:
- Synonyms
- three-and-twenty
- Derived terms
- twenty-three enigma, twenty-three-fold, twenty-three hundred, twenty-three-year-old
- Related terms
- twenty-third
- Hypernyms
- cardinal number, integer, natural number, real number, number