What does twenty mean?
Twenty is the cardinal number 20, the number immediately after nineteen and equal to twice ten. It is used to count people, objects, pages, minutes, pounds, or dollars: twenty tickets, twenty years old, and a score worth twenty. When used before a noun, it functions as an attributive numeral and normally agrees with that noun in number. As a countable noun, twenty may refer to a particular score, age, or denomination. Its plural, twenties, is especially common when referring to the years of a decade: the twenties usually means the 1920s, while in their twenties means during the period of a person's life between twenty and thirty. Twenty has no marked formal or informal connotation and is equally common in everyday speech, journalism, literature, and official contexts. It is also hyphenated when forming a compound modifier, as in twenty-year-old or twenty-dollar bill.
The cardinal number 20 when used as a count noun, including a score, an age, or a note or coin worth twenty units.
"He knocked a twenty in the last over."
The plural twenties is used especially for ages, scores, and decade labels.
Twenty directly modifying a noun, as in twenty students or twenty dollars.
"The delayed flight cost the passengers twenty hours."
The plural is used when twenty functions as a count noun, especially for ages, scores, or decade labels.
"She was in her twenties when she moved abroad."
English once offered two ways to say 20: the Germanic word twenty and the old noun score, a word that survives on scoreboards.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does twenty come from?
Twenty descends from Old English twēntig, which continued Proto-Germanic *twintigą, literally “two tens.” Its inherited “two” element is also visible in English words such as twice and twin, while twelve follows the related two-and-ten compound pattern. Dutch twintig, German zwanzig, and Swedish tjugo are close cognates that preserve the same fundamental two-and-ten structure.
Related word forms
How twenty is actually used
Neutral and standard in both formal and informal English. When used attributively, twenty normally governs the number of the noun it modifies, as in twenty dollars rather than twenty dollar. Style guides differ on whether numbers below one hundred should be written as words.