thrittene

Middle English

**Middle English numbers ^(edit)**
← 12	13	14 →
Cardinal: thrittene Ordinal: thrittenthe, thrittethe

Alternative forms

threttene, thryttene, þirttene, þrettenne, þriteene, þritten, þrittene
þreitene, þreottene (Early Middle English)
thirteen, thirteene, thredtene, thretteene, thretyne, throttene (Late Middle English)
therten, thritiene, thyrdtene, þirtene (East Anglia); þretene, þrettene, þrottene (Southern, Southwest Midland)
thirten, threteine, thretten (Northern); þryttene (Northeast Midland)

Etymology

From Anglian Old English þreotēne (compare West Saxon Old English þreotīene), from Proto-Germanic *þritehun; equivalent to thre +‎ -tene.

Forms with /i/ either continue the vowel of Proto-West Germanic *þritehun or are influenced by thritty (“30”), while forms with -tt- (and a consequent short vowel) are influenced by that number or the ordinal thrittenthe, thrittethe (Old English þreottēoþa). Northern forms with /ˈθrɛ-/ are likely influenced by Old Norse þrettán.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈθriˌteːn(ə)/, (especially East Anglia, Northern, Southern) /ˈθrɛ-/, (rare) /ˈθreː-/
IPA^(key): /ˈθirˌtiːn/ (Late Middle English, metathetic)

Numeral

thrittene

thirteen
- 1387–1400, Geoffrey Chaucer, "The Somnour's Tale", in The Canterbury Tales, [Westminster: William Caxton, published 1478], →OCLC; Rev. Walter W. Skeat, editor, The Complete Works of Geoffrey Chaucer, Vol. 4, Second Edition, Oxford at the Clarendon Press: Humphrey Milford, 1900, →OCLC, lines 2253–2261 (547–553)
  'My lord,' quod he, 'whan that the weder is fair,
  With-outen wind or perturbinge of air,
  Lat bringe a cartwheel here in-to this halle,
  But loke that it have his spokes alle.
  Twelf spokes hath a cartwheel comunly.
  And bring me than twelf freres, woot ye why?
  For thrittene is a covent, as I gesse.[']
  "My lord," he said, "When the weather is good, and there is no wind or perturbations in the air, let a cart-wheel be brought into this hall, but ensure that it has all its spokes: a cart-wheel has twelve spokes, commonly. And bring me then twelve friars, do you know why? Because a thirteen's a convent, as I estimate.

Related terms

Descendants

English: thirteen (dialectal throtteen)
Middle Scots: thertene, therttene, threttein, threttene
- Scots: thirteen
Yola: dhurteen

References

“thrī̆tẹ̄ne, num.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
“thretten(e, -ein(e, thert(t)ene, num.”, in The Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries, 2004–present, →OCLC, reproduced from William A[lexander] Craigie, A[dam] J[ack] Aitken [et al.], editors, A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue: […], Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, 1931–2002, →OCLC.
“thrittene”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.