thirteen

thirteen — number

1. The number 13, used for counting or showing a quantity of thirteen items, people

1.numberA1
Definition

The number 13, used for counting or showing a quantity of thirteen items, people, or units.

Example

Ishaan celebrated his thirteenth birthday with friends from his class.

thirteenth birthday (ordinal form for age)

There are only thirteen students in Sari's swimming class this term.

Common collocations
  • thirteen years old
  • thirteen people
  • thirteen minutes
  • thirteen dollars

Grammar Patterns

thirteen + plural noun

thirteen + years / minutes / other units

thirteen — noun

Word family

Common collocations

Nouns

  • thirteen as subject
  • the number thirteen
  • thirteen of them

Phrases

  • thirteen in total
  • all thirteen
  • thirteen out of

Etymology

Old EnglishEnglish

Thirteen comes from Old English 'þrēotīene', which is made of 'þrēo' (three) and 'tīene' (ten). It is related to the German word 'dreizehn'. The word has kept the same basic form for over a thousand years.