twenty-three

Definition

The cardinal number immediately following twenty-two and preceding twenty-four; 23.

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”).

Example Sentences

• "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 which the Fine, at a Tenth, is One hundred Twenty-three Pounds."
• "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."
• "Maryland has exported nearly eight times as much as Connecticut; above six times as much as Rhode Island; twenty-three times as much as New Hampshire; almost eighty times as much as Vermont; and almost three times as much as the four minor states."

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