DictionaryRoot: -tig
Old English

-tig

ten or a group of ten

Forms

  • -tig
  • -ty — The ending shortened and its consonant changed in later English.

Origin

An inherited Germanic number ending related to the word for ten.

Note

It builds the names of tens rather than simply adding ten to another number.

7 / 9
number

sixty

Six times ten.

Etymology

The ending refers to tens. Together the components express six groups of ten, giving the number sixty.

Full entry

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