How do you pronounce sixteen?

The recorded pronunciation is /ˈsɪks.tiːn/.

Where does sixteen come from?

It is traced to Middle English.

sixteen

/ˈsɪks.tiːn/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.95 in modern English

Syllables: six-teen
IPA: /ˈsɪks.tiːn/

Scrabble Score

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Syllables

Unique Chars

Meaning

num

The cardinal number occurring after fifteen and before seventeen, represented in Arabic numerals as 16 and in Roman numerals as XVI.

Example Sentences

"Venters began to count them—one—two—three—four—on up to sixteen."
"They'd spent one evening together sixteen months ago, and Falk was acutely aware that he'd probably airbrushed and edited at least some of it without meaning to."

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English sextene, sixtene, from Old English sixtīene, from Proto-Germanic *sehstehun. Cognate with West Frisian sechstjin, Dutch zestien, German sechzehn, Danish seksten. Equivalent to six + -teen.

Origin

Source language: Middle English

Word Breakdown

Root: sextene, sixtīene, *sehstehun

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ˈsɪks.tiːn/
British English: /ˈsɪks.tiːn/

Inflected Forms

16 (alternative) XVI (alternative)

Derived Forms

sixteener sixteenfold sixteenish sixteenmo sixteenpence sixteenpenny

Phrases

last sixteen round of sixteen sixteen hundred sixteen penny nail sixteen-penny nail sweet sixteen Last: fifteen. Next: seventeen

Frequently Paired Words

sixteenth Last: fifteen. Next: seventeen

Synonyms

16 xvi

Rhymes With

between mean seen green clean scene machine queen screen marine dean routine