Ten Meaning
/tɛn/Definition, CEFR level A1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
numThe number occurring after nine and before eleven, represented in Arabic numerals (base ten) as 10 and in Roman numerals as X.
nounA set or group with ten elements.
Sentence Examples
Ten years is a long time to wait.
It would be so cool if I could speak ten languages!
There are only ten of these rare animals left.
CEFR Practice Quiz
Many people know that a decade is a span of ____ years, no more and no less.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
There are exactly ____ students in the small advanced math class, which allows for a lot of personal attention today.
Word Origin & History
PIE word *déḱm̥ From Middle English ten, tene, from Old English tīen, from Proto-West Germanic *tehun, from Proto-Germanic *tehun, from Proto-Indo-European *déḱm̥. Cognate with Scots ten, tene (“ten”), West Frisian tsien (“ten”), Saterland Frisian tjoon (“ten”), North Frisian tiin (“ten”). See also teen.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"There is a melody upon the Earth as though ten thousand streams all sang together for their homes that they had forsaken in the hills."
— 1905, Lord Dunsany [i.e., Edward Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany], “The Sayings of Slid (whose Soul is by the Sea)”, in The Gods of Pegāna, London: [Charles] Elkin Mathews, […], →OCLC, page 15:
"A ten frame is a simple graphic tool that allows people to “see” numbers."
— (Can we date this quote?), “What is a Ten Frame and why is it a useful tool for developing early number relationships and fact fluency?”, in Rhodes University, page 1:
"They can readily state the number of tens in a hundred. But somehow they do not have a full appreciation of the "tenness" of our system and how the system is structured."
— 1958 May 26, Carolyn J. Ingham, Joseph N. Payne, “An eighth-grade unit on number systems”, in The Mathematics Teacher, volume 51, number 5, page 392:
"Understanding that numbers are composed of tens and ones is an important foundational concept, setting the stage for work with larger numbers."
— (Can we date this quote?), “What is a Ten Frame and why is it a useful tool for developing early number relationships and fact fluency?”, in Rhodes University, page 1:
"No trees have grown on the windswept Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic Ocean for tens of thousands of years — just shrubs and other low-lying vegetation. That’s why a recent arboreal discovery nearly 20 feet (6 meters) beneath the ground caught researchers’ attention."
— 2024 September 27, Katie Hunt, “Scientists discover hidden ancient forest on treeless island”, in CNN:
Explore More A1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
Many people know that a decade is a span of ____ years, no more and no less.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
There are exactly ____ students in the small advanced math class, which allows for a lot of personal attention today.