septuagenarian

English

Etymology

From Latin septuagenarius (“containing 70”) + -an (“forming adjectives and representative nouns”), either directly or via French septuagénaire, from Latin septuageni (“70 each”) + -arius (“-ary”), from Latin septuāginta (“seven tens, 70”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌsɛptəd͡ʒɪˈnɛɹiən/, /ˌsɛptəwəd͡ʒɪˈnɛɹiən/, /ˌsɛpt͡ʃəd͡ʒɪˈnɛɹiən/, /ˌsɛpt͡ʃəwəd͡ʒɪˈnɛɹiən/
• IPA^(key): /ˌsɛptjʊədʒɪˈnɛəɹɪən/, /ˌsɛptʃədʒɪˈnɛəɹɪən/, /ˌsɛptʃʊədʒɪˈnɛəɹɪən/

Noun

septuagenarian (plural septuagenarians)

1. Synonym of seventysomething: a person between 70 and 79 years old.
   • 2010, Philip Carr-Gomm, Richard Heygate, The Book of English Magic

     For a ley hunter, local people – particularly the elderly – can be mines of information. Devereux and Thomson recount how they asked a septuagenarian in a remote village the location of an elusive stone, without mentioning the subject of leys: […]

Adjective

septuagenarian (not comparable)

1. Of or related to seventysomethings.

   Coordinate terms: vicenarian, tricenarian, quadragenarian, quinquagenarian, semicentenarian, hexagenerian, sexagenarian, octogenarian, nonagenarian, centenarian, supercentenarian

Synonyms

• septuagenary

Translations

Of or related to people between 70 and 79 years of age

• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Hungarian: hetvenes (éveiben járó), hetvenvalahány éves, hetvenedik születésnapját betöltött
• Swedish: sjuttioårig (sv)

References

• “septuagenarian, n. and adj.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, 2022.