twenty-three
/ˈtwɛntiˈθɹiː/
"twenty-three" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“twenty-three” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a numeral. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 12
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The cardinal number immediately following twenty-two and preceding twenty-four; 23.
Corpus desk
Index EN-twenty-three · twenty-three · English
twenty-three · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 12 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "T" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | twenty-three |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Numeral |
| IPA | /ˈtwɛntiˈθɹiː/ |
| Letters | 12 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “twenty-three” in English
Rare enough to double-check
twenty-three is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anumeral, transcribed /ˈtwɛntiˈθɹiː/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "The cardinal number immediately following twenty-two and preceding twenty-four; 23.".
Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for twenty-three, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English twenty-thre, twenti-thre, twenti-thrie, twenty-thrie, ultimately derived from Old English þrēo and twēntiġ (“twenty-three”, literally “three and twenty”); see also three-and-twenty. The reason for the numerical swap across the spellings … The correct English form is twenty-three, spelled T-W-E-N-T-Y---T-H-R-E-E.
Definition
- 1The cardinal number immediately following twenty-two and preceding twenty-four; 23.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how twenty-three appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Reſolved, &c. That this Houſe doth accept of the Sum of One hundred Twenty-three Pounds of James Whitewick, of Coventry in the County of Warwick, Gentleman; his Delinguency being, That he went and reſided in the Gariſons held againſt the Parliament: Submitted before December 1645: His Eſtate, per Annum, Sixty Pounds; Perſonal Eſstate, Thirty Pounds: For w…
Admiral Rooke, with twenty-three Men of War, having the Turky Fleet under his Convoy, was attacked off Cape St. Vincent by the whole French Fleet, under the Command of Admiral Tourville; twelve Engliſh and Dutch Men of War, and above four-ſcore Merchant-men, were taken or deſtroyed by the French.
Etymology
From Middle English twenty-thre, twenti-thre, twenti-thrie, twenty-thrie, ultimately derived from Old English þrēo and twēntiġ (“twenty-three”, literally “three and twenty”); see also three-and-twenty. The reason for the numerical swap across the spellings for all English numbers is unknown, but it may have been influenced by the Old French system, i.e. see vint trois (literally “twenty three”). By surface analysis, twenty (“the cardinal number 20, occurring after nineteen and before twenty-one”) + three (“the cardinal number 3, occurring after two and before four”).
Synonyms
Antonyms
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.