Eight

Pronunciation

• RP enPR: āt, IPA: /eɪt/
• Rhymes: -eɪt
• Homophones: ate

From Middle English eight, aught, eahte, ahte, from Old English eahta ("eight"), from Proto-Germanic *ahtōu ("eight"), from Proto-Indo-European *oḱtṓw. Cognate with Scots aucht ("eight"), West Frisian acht ("eight"), Dutch acht ("eight"), Low German acht ("eight"), German acht ("eight"), Swedish åtta ("eight"), Icelandic átta ("eight"), Latin octo ("eight"), Ancient Greek ὀκτώ, Irish ocht ("eight").

Alternative forms

• aught Scotland, archaic, rare
• Western (Arabic) numerals: 8
• Roman numerals: VIII

Numeral

numeral

1. (cardinal) A numerical value equal to 8; the number occurring after seven and before nine.He works eight hours a day.
• 2009, Stuart Heritage, Hecklerspray, Friday the 22nd of May in 2009 at 1 o’clock p.m., “Jon & Kate Latest: People You Don’t Know Do Crap You Don’t Care About”Jon & Kate Plus 8 is a show based on two facts: 1) Jon and Kate Gosselin have eight children, and 2) the word ‘Kate’ rhymes with the word ‘eight’. One suspects that if Kate were ever to have another child, a shady network executive would urge her to put it in a binbag with a brick and drop it down a well. But this is just a horrifying tangent.
2. Describing a set or group with eight components.

Related terms

• eighth

Full definition of eight

Noun

1. The digit/figure 8.
2. (playing cards) Any of the four cards in a normal deck with the value eight.
3. (nautical) A light, narrow rowing boat, especially one used in competitive rowing, steered by a cox, in which a eight rowers each have two oars
4. (rowing, especially in plural) A race in which such craft participate

Derived terms

• eight ball
• eighty
• figure eight
• number eight
• piece of eight

See ait.

Noun

1. An island in a river; an ait.
• Evelynosiers on their eights