eleven

eleven — number

1. the whole number that comes after ten and before twelve, written as 11

1.numberA1
Definition

the whole number that comes after ten and before twelve, written as 11

Example

Hoa turned eleven last Saturday and had a small party with her friends.

turn + age (eleven, twelve, etc.)

There are eleven players on a football team, including the goalkeeper.

eleven + plural noun

Common collocations
  • eleven years old
  • eleven o'clock
  • page eleven
  • eleven people
  • eleven thirty (11:30)
  • turn eleven

Grammar Patterns

eleven + plural noun (e.g. eleven students)

turn + eleven (age)

at + eleven (o'clock)

Usage Note

As a cardinal number, eleven does not take an article when counting directly (e.g. eleven people, not the eleven people). Use the definite article only when referring to a specific group: the eleven students in my class.

Common Mistakes

He is eleven years.
He is eleven years old.' or 'He is eleven.
When stating age, include 'years old' in formal writing, though 'He is eleven' is fine in casual speech.

eleven — noun

Word family

  • eleventh
    adjectiveA2
  • eleventh
    nounB1
  • eleven-year-old
    adjective / nounA2

Synonym discussion

Sense: number/1

Eleven is the cardinal number between ten and twelve. Its ordinal form, eleventh, refers to position in a sequence (the eleventh person in line). A dozen equals twelve — one more than eleven — and is used for counting groups of items, especially eggs or baked goods. A score equals twenty — almost double eleven — and appears in historical or formal contexts ('four score and seven years ago'). Unlike these other terms, eleven has no special counting-unit function; it is simply a number. For everyday use, pupils learn eleven in early arithmetic, while dozen is common in shopping and cooking, and score is largely restricted to fixed expressions and older texts.

eleven ↗eleventhdozen ↗score ↗

Common collocations

Phrases

  • eleven o'clock
  • eleven years old
  • half eleven
  • eleven thirty
  • the eleven plus (UK exam)

Etymology

Proto-GermanicOld EnglishMiddle EnglishEnglish

Eleven comes from Old English endleofan, which in turn came from a Proto-Germanic compound meaning 'one left' (after counting to ten). The idea was that after you counted up to ten, there was 'one left over' to make eleven. This same pattern appears in German elf and Dutch elf. Over time, endleofan was shortened and smoothed into the modern English word eleven.