Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The ordinal number matching the number eight in a series.
  • noun One of eight equal parts.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Next after the seventh: an ordinal numeral.
  • noun The quotient of unity divided by eight; one of eight equal parts of anything.
  • noun In music: The interval between any tone and a tone on the eighth diatonic degree above or below it; an octave.
  • noun A tone distant by an eighth or octave from a given tone; an octave or replicate. The eighth tone of a scale is really the prime or key-note of a replicate scale.
  • noun An eighth-note.
  • noun In early English law, an eighth part of the rents for the year, or of movables, or both, granted or levied by way of tax.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Next in order after the seventh.
  • adjective Consisting of one of eight equal divisions of a thing.
  • adjective (Mus.) the eighth part of a whole note, or semibreve; a quaver.
  • noun The quotient of a unit divided by eight; one of eight equal parts; an eighth part.
  • noun (Mus.) The interval of an octave.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective The ordinal form of the number eight.
  • noun The person or thing in the eighth position.
  • noun One of eight equal parts of a whole.
  • noun slang An "eighth" of an ounce equalling approximately 3.5 grams in marijuana or other drugs.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun position eight in a countable series of things
  • adjective coming next after the seventh and just before the ninth in position
  • noun one part in eight equal parts

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English eighthe, from Old English eahtotha, from eahta, eight; see oktō(u) in Indo-European roots.]

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Examples

  • [1456] The argument here is due to a misapprehension of the meaning of the term eighth in Psalm vi. and xi.title. cf.n. on De Sp.S. S: 66.

    NPNF2-08. Basil: Letters and Select Works 1895

  • Herodotus thought Homer lived "the day before yesterday" because he belonged to what we call the eighth century.

    Looking for the Lost Greeks Wills, Garry 2003

  • "Under such conditions," said I, "what we call the eighth commandment would be superfluous."

    Daybreak; a Romance of an Old World James Cowan

  • The eighth is not merely one of the seven restored, but a new power or person proceeding out of the seven, and at the same time embodying all the God-opposed features of the previous seven concentrated and consummated; for which reason there are said to be not eight, but only seven heads, for the eighth is the embodiment of all the seven.

    Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible 1871

  • I would now lead my companion a little closer to what the apostle says in the nineteenth verse; to come closer, if we may, to the idea that burned in his heart when he wrote what we call the eighth chapter of his epistle to the Romans.

    Hope of the Gospel George MacDonald 1864

  • When I was in eighth grade, she and my father had tried to quit drinking.

    The Landscape of Pleasure 2010

  • When I was in eighth grade I was shorter than every girl in the seventh grade.

    Get Briefed: Josh James Alexandra Zendrian 2010

  • The film, featuring Best Actor contender Jeff Bridges, expanded into 819 theatres nationwide, earning an estimated $3.6 million in eighth place or a 58% increase over last week.

    Weekend Box Office – It’s Over. AVATAR Falls To DEAR JOHN with $32.4 Million – Collider.com 2010

  • When I was in eighth grade, she and my father had tried to quit drinking.

    The Landscape of Pleasure 2010

  • When I was in eighth grade, she and my father had tried to quit drinking.

    The Landscape of Pleasure 2010

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