# eight

> English word · Numeral · IPA /eɪt/ · frequency rank #1,016

## Definitions
1. A numerical value equal to 8; the number occurring after seven and before nine.
2. Describing a group or set with eight elements.

## Etymology
PIE word
 *oḱtṓw
From Middle English eighte, aught, eahte, ahte, from Old English eahta, from Proto-West Germanic *ahtō, from Proto-Germanic *ahtōu, from Proto-Indo-European *oḱtṓw.
Cognate with Scots aucht (“eight”), West Frisian acht (“eight”), Dutch acht (“eight”), Low German acht (“eight”), German acht (“eight”), Norwegian åtte (“eight”), Swedish åtta (“eight”), Icelandic átta (“eight”), Latin octo (“eight”), Ancient Greek ὀκτώ (oktṓ), Irish ocht (“eight”), among others. False cognate of Tamil எட்டு (eṭṭu), Malayalam എട്ട് (eṭṭŭ).

## Easily confused with
- **eighth** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/eight-vs-eighth)
- **eighty** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/eight-vs-eighty)
- **Enright** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/eight-vs-enright)
- **8** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/8-vs-eight)
- **ate** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ate-vs-eight)
- **ait** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ait-vs-eight)

## Common misspellings (7)
`egiht`, `eigght`, `eighht`, `eightt`, `eigth`, `eihgt`, `ieght`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/eight