# eight

Pronunciation: say "AYT" /eɪt/

## Numeral

1. The number 8, one more than seven; amounting to eight in number.
   - Simple: The number 8, one more than seven.
   - _The committee was made up of eight members._
   - _The recipe makes enough soup for eight people, with some left over._

## Noun

2. The written digit or figure 8, used to represent the number eight.
   - Simple: The written symbol that stands for the number eight, drawn as 8.
   - _His handwritten eight looked more like an infinity sign._
   - _The house number ended in a faded brass eight._
3. The hour of eight o'clock, either in the morning or the evening.
   - Simple: The time when the clock shows eight, in the morning or evening.
   - _Their train leaves at eight sharp._
   - _We sat down to dinner a little after eight._
4. Any of the four playing cards in a standard deck bearing the value eight, one in each suit.
   - Simple: A playing card marked with eight symbols, one of four in a standard deck.
   - _He laid down the eight of clubs to take the trick._
   - _Two eights gave her a promising opening hand._
5. In rowing, a long, narrow racing boat for eight rowers and a cox, or the crew that rows it.
   - Simple: In rowing, a long racing boat for eight rowers and a person who steers, or the team in it.
   - _Six people were needed to carry the long, narrow eight from the boathouse to the water._
   - _Their eight pulled ahead in the final stretch of the course._
6. A rowing race contested by eights: boats each crewed by eight rowers.
   - Simple: A boat race between crews of eight rowers, each boat steered by a cox.
   - _Despite a slow start, the club came from behind to win the men's eight at the spring regatta._
   - _Spectators packed the towpath to watch the eights, always the showpiece of the regatta._

## Origin

From Middle English "eighte" (also "aught," "eahte"), from Old English "eahta," from Proto-West Germanic "*ahtō" and Proto-Germanic "*ahtōu," going back to Proto-Indo-European "*oḱtṓw." It is cognate with Dutch and German "acht," Swedish "åtta," Latin "octo," Ancient Greek "oktṓ," and Irish "ocht."

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/eight (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).