twenty
/ˈtwɛnti/ [-ɛɾ̃i]number, noun
twenty is spelled T-W-E-N-T-Y: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 45 times per million words in written English, the 2,253rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a number, twenty means “The cardinal number 20, occurring after nineteen and before twenty-one” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in twenty?
| Letters | 6: T-W-E-N-T-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 45 times per million words; the 2,253rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is twenty?
Twenty appears 45 times per million words in written English, the 2,253rd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce twenty?
- UK /ˈtwɛnti/
- US /ˈtwɛnti/ [-ɛɾ̃i]
- US [-ɛni]
Twenty has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-uk-twenty.ogg, En-us-twenty.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of twenty
- 20
- twenties plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does twenty mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
number
- 1
The cardinal number 20, occurring after nineteen and before twenty-one.
noun
- 1
The numbers twenty (20) to twenty-nine (29).
She looks like she's in her early twenties, perhaps 21 or 22 years old?
- 2
colloquialA banknote with a denomination of 20.
The waiter’s face lit up when I gave him a twenty.
- 3
10-20 (location).
What’s your twenty, good buddy?
- 4
UKAn old English division of infantry.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Twenty in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense cardinal number:
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does twenty come from?
From Middle English twenty, twenti, from Old English twēntiġ (“twenty”, literally “two tens”), from Proto-Germanic *twaintigiwiz, *twai tigiwiz, an old compound of *twain- (“two”) + *-tigaz (“group of ten”), equivalent to two + -ty, or twain + -ty. Cognate with Scots twenty, tuenty (“twenty”), West Frisian tweintich (“twenty”), Dutch twintig (“twenty”), German zwanzig (“twenty”), Danish tyve.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).