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Glite Dictionary
8️⃣ Eighty 8️⃣ Eighty in number
fourscore

fourscore

9.9
A number equal to eighty
  • numeral
  • /ˈfɔrˌskɔr/
  • Archaic
translation icon : ochenta
  • Abraham Lincoln began the Gettysburg Address with "Fourscore and seven years ago."

Examples

  • He lived to the impressive age of fourscore.

  • The village has seen fourscore harvests pass since the old oak tree was planted.

  • He is fourscore years old.

  • The speech was delivered fourscore years ago.

  • Abraham Lincoln began the Gettysburg Address with "Fourscore and seven years ago."

  • He is fourscore years old, a milestone celebrated by his family.

  • The village has seen fourscore harvests pass since the festival began.

Synonyms

80
vsfourscore
∞ 1.0

A number that is eight times ten

is the same value but expressed as an old-fashioned literary phrase
eighty
vsfourscore
229 1.0

A number equal to eight times ten

is the historic or literary term rather than neutral modern wording

Compounds

fourscore year
  • Archaic
9.9

Eighty years in old language

Surface Forms

fourscore cardinal word
fourscore ordinal word

Morphology

fourscore = four + score (semi-transparent) = four + score

Formally a straightforward compound ('four' + 'score' = four times twenty), but 'score' meaning 'twenty' is archaic/poetic and may be unfamiliar to many learners.

Etymology

Fourscore comes from the old word score, which means 'twenty', so fourscore is four times twenty, that is 'eighty'. That's why you find it in old or formal speech to mean 'eighty'.