# eleven

Pronunciation: US say "ee-LEV-uhn" /əˈlɛvən/; UK say "i-LEV-uhn" /ɪˈlɛvən/; AUS say "uh-LEV-uhn"

## Numeral

1. The number one more than ten and one less than twelve, written 11 in Arabic numerals.
   - Simple: The number that comes after ten and before twelve. It is written as 11.
   - _The bakery opens at eleven on weekends._
   - _Eleven of the thirty survey respondents declined to answer._

## Noun

2. A team of eleven players in soccer, cricket, or American football; in schools, the first eleven is the top team.
   - Simple: A sports team of eleven players, as in soccer or cricket.
   - _The manager named an unchanged eleven for Saturday's derby._
   - _The defensive eleven held firm on fourth down to seal the win._
3. A very high level of intensity, as if going beyond the top of a hypothetical one-to-ten scale. *(slang, US)*
   - Simple: A very high level of something, going past the top of a scale of one to ten.
   - _Her stress was at an eleven during finals week._
   - _The new café turned its holiday decorations up to eleven this year._
4. An exceptional specimen, particularly a physically attractive person; someone or something rated beyond the top of a one-to-ten scale. *(slang, US)*
   - Simple: A person or thing that is much better than normal, especially someone who is very good-looking.
   - _On looks alone, the new bartender is a solid eleven._
   - _My friend swears her new boyfriend is an eleven._

## Origin

From Middle English eleven, from Old English endleofan, going back to Proto-Germanic *ainalif meaning "one left" (one left over after counting to ten). It combines *ainaz ("one") and *-lif, from Proto-Indo-European *leyp- ("to stick," hence "to stay"), and is related to Dutch elf, German elf, and Icelandic ellefu.

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