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Glite Dictionary
8️⃣ Eighty 8️⃣ Eighty in number
fourscore

fourscore

9.9
Being eighty years old
  • adjective
  • /ˈfɔrˌskɔr/
  • Archaic
translation icon : ochenta
  • Abraham Lincoln famously began his speech, 'Four score and seven years ago.'

Examples

  • The patriarch lived to be more than fourscore years old, according to the old record.

  • It was fourscore!

  • She recited the passage mentioning 'threescore and ten' and 'four score years.'

  • The speech was given fourscore years ago.

  • Abraham lived for fourscore years before he began his great journey.

  • The historian noted that the battle occurred fourscore years ago.

  • In the story, the wise man claimed he had seen fourscore seasons pass.

Synonyms

80
vsfourscore
∞ 1.0

A number that is eight times ten

is the archaic spoken word rather than numeric digits
eighty
vsfourscore
229 1.0

A number equal to eight times ten

is the archaic spoken word rather than the modern word form
LXXX
vsfourscore
8.3

A Roman numeral that means eighty

is the archaic spoken word rather than Roman numerals
lxxx
vsfourscore
9.3

A Roman numeral that stands for eighty

is the archaic spoken word rather than lowercase numeral form

Compounds

fourscore year
  • Archaic
9.9

Eighty years in old language

Surface Forms

fourscore positive

Morphology

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

Same compound structure as the numeric sense; the adjective meaning is transparent only if the learner knows 'score' = twenty, which is archaic.

Etymology

Fourscore as an adjective also comes from score, meaning 'twenty', so calling someone fourscore meant they were 'eighty' years old; it is now an old-fashioned way to say 'eighty'.