Definition

1. Adjective:

   • Being ten more than seventy; equal to eighty: A formal or literary term meaning exactly eighty, often used in historical or poetic contexts.

2. Noun:

   • The cardinal number that is the product of ten and eight; the number 80: The quantity represented by the numeral 80.
   • A set of eighty items: Can refer to a group of eighty things.
   • Eighty years of age: An archaic term for a lifespan or period of eighty years.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:

  • The treaty was signed fourscore years ago. (The treaty was signed eighty years ago.)
  • He lived to be fourscore years old. (He lived to be eighty years old.)

• Noun:

  • The total came to fourscore. (The total came to eighty.)
  • "Fourscore and seven years ago..." is the famous beginning of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. (Eighty-seven years ago...)

Advanced Usage

• Historical/Literary Use: The word is now considered archaic and is primarily found in historical documents, speeches, religious texts, or poetic language to lend a formal, solemn, or old-fashioned tone.
  • The prophecy spoke of a peace lasting fourscore seasons.
• Used with "and": Commonly appears in the construction "fourscore and [number]" (e.g., fourscore and seven, meaning 87).
  • The elder was fourscore and ten. (The elder was ninety.)

Variants and Related Words

• Score (noun): A group or set of twenty. "Fourscore" literally means four times twenty.
  • Three score years and ten is a biblical phrase meaning a typical human lifespan of seventy years.
• Eightieth (adjective): Constituting number eighty in a sequence.
  • This is the eightieth anniversary.
• Octogenarian (noun): A person who is between 80 and 89 years old.
  • The community honored its octogenarians.

Synonyms

• Eighty (adj., n.): The standard modern term for the number 80.
• Four times twenty (phrase): A descriptive synonym highlighting the etymology.

Related Phrases

• Fourscore and seven: A famous phrase from Abraham Lincoln, meaning eighty-seven.
• Fourscore years: A poetic way to say eighty years, often implying a long lifespan.
  • He was blessed with fourscore years of health.

Adjective

1. being ten more than seventy

Noun

1. the cardinal number that is the product of ten and eight