thirteen
(ˌθɜːˈtiːn, ˈθɜːtiːn: see -teen)
Forms: α. 1 þreotiene, -tene, -tyne, þreottene, -tyne, 1–4 þrettyne, 2–5 þrit-, 3 þre-, þreat-, 4 thrat-, þrot-, thrittene, þritten, 4–7 thret-, 5 throt-, (thred-), thryttene, thretten, 6 thretene, 7 threteen(e, threttein. β. 5 þirt-, 5–6 thyr-, thurtene, 6 thirtene, -tine, thurteyn, 6–7 thirteene, 8 therteen, 7– thirteen.
[OE. þréot{iacu}ene, -téne = OS. thriutein, thrutein, OFris. thretten (MLG. druttein, Du. dertien), OHG. drîzehan (G. dreizehn), ON. þrettán (Da. tretten, Sw. tretton); f. þréo, three + t{iacu}ene, téne, pl. -teen, ten.]
The cardinal number composed of ten and three, represented by the symbols 13 or xiii.
A. adj.
1. In concord with a n. expressed.
| α a 900 tr. Bæda's Hist. i. xiii. [xxiii.] (1890) 54 Þreotteno ᵹer & syx monað & tyn daᵹas. Ibid. iv. xxiv. [xxiii.] 342 Þær seondon betweoh þæm mynstrum twæm þreottyne mila ametene. c 1200 Ormin 11071 Ȝe muȝhenn uppo ȝure ȝer þrittene moneþþ findenn. c 1205 Lay. 7771 Þreottene monðes wunede Julius in Oðeres. a 1225 Ancr. R. 234 Seinte Sare, nes heo fulle þreattene ȝer itented of hire vlesche. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 652 Brut is sone king was þrettene [v.rr. þrottene, thryttene] ȝer. 13.. Guy Warw. (A.) 7305 + st. 279 For þritten pouer men & ȝete mo. 1610 Mem. St. Giles's Durham 39 Everie housholder shall pay to the bakehouse man for everie threteene cakes one cake and no more. 1661 Reg. Privy Counc. Scotl. I. 26 Threttein. |
| β c 1430 R. Gloucester's Chron. (Rolls) 8666 (MS. ε.) He adde be kyng þirttene ȝer. 1531 in Sel. Cases Crt. Requests (1898) 34 To haue for his waiges only thurteyn shillinges and foure pence by the yere. 1538 Elyot, Tredecim, thyrtene. 1561 J. Daus tr. Bullinger on Apoc. Pref. (1573) 14 Thirtine yeares past. 1588 Holy Bull, etc. (title-p.), Pardon and Indulgence of their Sinnes: and that for..two Spanish Realls, viz. Thirteen Pence. 1659 Baxter Key Cath. xxxii. 205 One Kingdom hath thirteen Arch-bishops. 1776 Declaration of Independence, The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America. 1776 in Huntington (N.Y.) Town Rec. (1889) III. 6 Yesterday the Freedom and Independence of the Thirteen United Colonies was..proclaimed. 1901 N. Amer. Rev. Feb. 162 Fines amounting to thirteen times the amount of the indemnity. 1941 S. V. Benét Listen to People (1942) 471 There are the pretty girls with their hair curled Who represent the Thirteen Colonies. 1950 Chicago Tribune 23 Feb. 4/4 Our 13 original states found that survival and progress depend on closer association and common effort. |
2. Absolutely (or n. implied in context).
spec. with reference to the original thirteen states (previously colonies) of the U.S.A.
| c 1000 Menologium (Gr.) 116 Ymb þreotyne [tida lange]..tyn mihtum eac. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 10377 In þe ȝer of grace ywis Tuelf hundred & þretene ido was al þis. 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. v. 128, I..putte hem in a pressour..Til ten ȝerdes oþer twelue tolden out þrettene. 1562 in W. H. Turner Select. Rec. Oxford (1880) 289 Called before the Mayre and the thurtene. 1725 in Warden Burgh Laws Dundee, etc. (1872) 356 Non shall give no more butt therteen for the duson of bread, except that it be to Baxteris or Baxters wifs. 1834 H. M. Brackenridge Recollections vii. 69 Fort Fayette, surmounted by the stripes and stars of the old thirteen. 1865 S. Evans Bro. Fabian's MS., Charm v, If thirteen sit down to sup And thou first have risen up, Goodman, turn thy money! 1884 Harper's Mag. Nov. 889/1, I do not know as to their feelings regarding thirteen at table. 1904 Hartford (Conn.) Courant 30 Aug. 10 We want to see the Old Thirteen draw closer and closer together. |
† 3. As ordinal: = thirteenth. Obs.
| c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints ii. (Paulus) 72 [He] prechit þare..till of nero þe thrattene ȝere. c 1430 Freemasonry 239 The threttene artycul..Ys [etc.]. 1503 Rolls of Parlt. VI. 527/2 The thretene day of Marche. 1551 Recorde Pathw. Knowl. i. Defin., In the thirtene conclusion. 1603 Knolles Hist. Turks (1638) 30 He..died the thirteen of November, Anno 1142. 1640–1 Kirkcudbr. War-Comm. Min. Bk. (1855) 60 The threttene day of October, 1640. |
4. Comb., forming attrib. phrases, as thirteen-day, thirteen-inch, thirteen-stone; thirteen-ringed, thirteen-square adjs.; † thirteen-penny n. = B. 2; thirteen-year cicada, locust, a periodical cicada that reappears every 13 years rather than every 17.
| 1517 R. Torkington Pilgr. (1884) 30 A fayer Tower xiij Sqware. 1798 Hull Advertiser 6 Oct. 2/1 The two thirteen-inch mortars. 1828 Landor Imag. Conv. Wks. 1846 I. 305/2 A half-crown contents me..and, just for the peg-polisher, a thirteen-penny. 1846 Dollar Newspaper (Philad.) 17 June 2/3 The locusts are said to be thirteen years' locusts, having made their appearance before this time in 1833. 1897 M. Kingsley W. Africa 263 Getting these twelve to thirteen-stone gentlemen up. 1898 P. Manson Trop. Diseases xxxvii. 589 A thirteen-ringed larva is hatched out from each egg. 1904 Westm. Gaz. 8 Feb. 5/2 The thirteen-story Continental Trust building. 1964 Borror & DeLong Introd. Study Insects (ed. 2) xx. 204 There are at least 13 broods of 17-year cicadas and 5 of 13-year cicadas. |
† b. thirteen-pence-halfpenny, alleged to have been the wage of a hangman. thirteen-pence-halfpenny piece, the name of the Scottish merk (= 13s. 4d. Scots money) current during the 17th century. Obs.
| [c 1470 Miners' Laws in C. Walters Bygone Somerset (1897) 41 If any..doth pick or steal any lead or Oare to the value of thirteen pence halfpenny the lord or his Officers may Arrest all his Lead-works.] 1604 Dekker 2nd Pt. Honest Wh. Wks. 1873 II. 171 Why should I eate hempe⁓seed at the Hangmans thirteene-pence halfe-penny Ordinary? 1608 Day Hum. out of Br. iv. F iij, He could not hang me for't; tis not worth thirteen pence halfe penny. 1722 De Foe Col. Jack (1840) 46 A paper of old thirteen-pence-halfpenny pieces, half and quarter pieces, with nine-pences, and four-pence-halfpennies, all old crooked money, Scotch and Irish coin. 1796 Pegge Anonym. (1809) 460 Thirteen-pence halfpenny is Hangman's wages, because there was a piece of money of this sort, as likewise six-pence three-farthings, the half of it, both of them Scotch pieces, brought to us by James the First. I have seen them both. |
B. n. (With plural thirteens.)
1. a. The abstract number; also, a symbol or the figures representing this.
That the number is unlucky is a widespread superstition (cf. quots. 1865, 1884 in A. 2); hence such applications as thirteen club: see quots. 1883, 1905.
| a 1400 in Halliwell Rara Mathem. (1841) 30 Nombrys..componyd of a digyt and of an articule as fourtene fyftene thrittene and suche other. 1599 Minsheu Span. Dict. s.v. Tréze, Estárse en sus Tréze, to be in his thirteenes, to be obstinate, to stand still in his purpose. 1883 St. James's Gaz. 26 Oct., The social crusade against the venerable superstition respecting the number 13... Last year, a Thirteen Club was established [in America]. 1905 Daily News 6 Feb. 9 Where is the Thirteen Club and its campaign to shame the superstitious public out of their dread of the number 13? |
b. A thing distinguished by the number thirteen, as an article of a certain size so called.
| 1799 Hull Advertiser 20 Apr. 2/3 Wine bottles, thirteens, fourteens, and fifteens, at 2s. 6d. per dozen. Mod. This gentleman takes a thirteen in boots. |
† 2. The name formerly current in Ireland for a silver shilling, as being worth thirteen pence of Irish copper currency. Obs.
| c 1720 Swift Dean's Answ. 8 Restore..My twelve thirteens and sixpence ha'penny. 1762 Foote Orators ii. (1780) 57 I'll wager you three thirteens to a rap, that it is no such matter at all, at all. 1810 Naval Chron. XXIV. 151 Oft was his pocket without a thirteen. 1830 Marryat King's Own xxi, ‘He says that it's two thirteens that must be paid for it’... ‘Have you two shillings?’ |