seven

See also: sɛ́ven and Seven

Translingual

Signal flag for the digit 7

Alternative forms

• Seven, SEVEN

Etymology

Borrowed from English seven.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈsɛvɛn]

Noun

seven

1. (international standards) NATO & ICAO radiotelephony clear code (spelling-alphabet name) for the digit 7.

   Synonym: setteseven (ITU/IMO)

ICAO/NATO radiotelephonic clear codes

Alfa

Bravo

Charlie

Delta

Echo

Foxtrot

Golf

Hotel

India

Juliett

Kilo

Lima

Mike

November

Oscar

Papa

Quebec

Romeo

Sierra

Tango

Uniform

Victor

Whiskey

Xray

Yankee

Zulu

zero

one

two

three (tree)

four (fower)

five (fife)

six

seven

eight

nine (niner)

hundred

thousand

decimal

ICAO/NATO vs ITU/IMO radiotelephonic clear codes for digits

ICAO/NATO	zero	one	two	three (tree)	four (fower)	five (fife)	six	seven	eight	nine (niner)
ITU/IMO	nadazero	unaone	bissotwo	terrathree	kartefour	pantafive	soxisix	setteseven	oktoeight	novenine

English

English numbers ^(edit)

	70
←  6	7	8  →
Cardinal: seven     Ordinal: seventh     Abbreviated ordinal: 7th     Latinate ordinal: septenary     Adverbial: seven times     Multiplier: sevenfold     Latinate multiplier: septuple     Distributive: septuply     Germanic collective: sevensome     Collective of n parts: septuplet     Greek or Latinate collective: heptad     Greek collective prefix: hepta-     Fractional: seventh     Elemental: septuple     Number of musicians: septet     Number of years: septennium     Number of days: week

Alternative forms

• Arabic numerals: 7 (see for numerical forms in other scripts)
• Roman numerals: VII
• sev'n

Etymology

PIE word
*septḿ̥

From Middle English seven, from Old English seofon (“seven”), from Proto-West Germanic *sebun (“seven”), from Proto-Germanic *sebun (“seven”), from Proto-Indo-European *septḿ̥ (“seven”).

Cognate with Scots seiven (“seven”), West Frisian sân (“seven”), Saterland Frisian soogen (“seven”), Low German söven (“seven”), Dutch zeven (“seven”), German sieben (“seven”), Danish syv (“seven”), Norwegian sju (“seven”), Icelandic sjö (“seven”), Latin septem (“seven”), Ancient Greek ἑπτά (heptá, “seven”), Russian семь (semʹ), Sanskrit सप्त (saptá).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsɛvən/, /ˈsɛvn̩/

  • Audio (General American, female voice):

    (file)

  • Audio (Received Pronunciation, male voice):

    (file)

• (casually also) IPA^(key): [ˈsɛbm̩]
• Homophone: Severn (one non-rhotic pronunciation)
• Rhymes: -ɛvən
• Hyphenation: se‧ven

Numeral

seven

1. A numerical value equal to 7; the number following six and preceding eight. This many dots: (•••••••). Describing a group or set with seven elements.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Joshua 6:1–5:

     1 Now Iericho was straitly shut vp, because of the children of Israel: none went out, & none came in.
     2 And the Lord said vnto Ioshua, See, I haue giuen into thine hand Iericho, and the King thereof, and the mighty men of valour.
     3 And ye shall compasse the city, all yee men of warre, and goe round about the city once: thus shalt thou doe sixe dayes.
     4 And seuen Priests shall beare before the Arke seuen trumpets of rams hornes: and the seuenth day yee shall compasse the city seuen times, and the Priests shall blow with the trumpets.
     5 And it shall come to passe that when they make a long blast with the rammes-horne, and when ye heare the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout: and the wall of the citie shall fall downe flat, and the people shall ascend vp euery man straight before him.

   • 1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 175:

     The cabbalism of the number seven is emphasized, for in hell seven judges at each of seven gates take one of these divine laws away from her.

   • 2024 December 23, “Cancer survivor makes hampers for young patients”, in BBC‎^[2]:

     The seven hampers for four boys and three girls were personalised to each patient, including overnight hotel stays, colouring books and self care items.

Usage notes

Like other numerals, sometimes used postpositively in Late Middle English and Early Modern English, for exampleː

• Son & moyne set in the heuen,
  Witħ starnes, & the planettys seuen,
  [...]   (The Creation in The Towneley Plays, ll. 50–51)

Derived terms

• four score and seven years ago

Related terms

• seventh

Translations

See seven/translations § Numeral.

See also

• Table of cardinal numbers 0 to 9 in various languages

Noun

seven (countable and uncountable, plural sevens)

1. The digit/figure 7 or an occurrence thereof.

   He wrote three sevens on the paper.

2. (countable, card games) A card bearing seven pips.
3. (slang) The soft drink 7 Up.

   a whisky and seven

Derived terms

Terms derived from the numeral or noun seven

• at six and seven
• at sixes and sevens
• city of seven hills
• cloud seven
• dance of the seven veils
• deuce-to-seven lowball
• four score seven years ago
• grade seven
• Group of Seven
• line of seven
• magnificent seven
• Mercury Seven
• number seven
• on cloud seven
• Our Lady of the Seven Dolors
• Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows
• rugby sevens
• seven and a half
• seven and seven
• seven-arm octopus
• seven arts
• sevenbark
• seven bells
• seven card stud
• seven-card stud
• seven come eleven
• seven-day wonder
• seven deadly sins
• seven dirty words
• seven eighths
• seven-eighths
• Sevener, sevener
• seven figures
• sevenfold
• seven-footer
• sevengill
• Seven Hills
• Seven Hills of Rome
• seven hundred
• seven iron
• sevenish
• Seven Islands
• seven-layer cake
• seven-layer dip
• seven-layer salad
• seven-league boot
• seven-league boots
• sevenless
• seven-level
• seven-level screwdriver
• sevenling
• seven minutes in heaven
• sevenness
• sevennight
• Seven Oaks
• seven o'clock
• seven out
• sevenpence
• sevenpenny
• sevenplex
• sevens
• Seven Sages
• sevenscore
• seven seals
• seven seas
• seven second delay
• seven-segment
• seven shades
• seven-shooter
• sevensies
• Seven Sisters
• Seven Sleepers Day
• sevensome
• seventeen
• seventh
• seven-thirties
• seven-thirty
• seven thousand
• seven-thousander
• seven-toed Pete
• seven-up
• seven-veil dance
• seven virtues
• Seven Wonders of the World
• seven-year apple
• seven-year itch
• seven-year melon
• seven-year vine
• sevoflurane
• triple seven
• twenty-four seven

Translations

the figure seven

• Agta:

  Dupaningan Agta: pitu

• Asturian: siete (ast) m
• Basque: zazpi (eu)
• Belarusian: сямёрка f (sjamjórka)
• Bulgarian: седми́ца (bg) f (sedmíca)
• Catalan: set (ca) m
• Danish: syvtal n
• Dutch: zeven (nl) f
• Finnish: seiska (fi), seitsemäinen (fi), seitsikko (fi)
• French: sept (fr)
• Galician: sete (gl) m or f
• German: Sieben (de) f

  Alemannic German: sibe

• Hungarian: hetes (hu)
• Khmer: ប្រាំពីរ (km) (pram pi)
• Lithuanian: septynetas (lt) m
• Macedonian: седмица f (sedmica), седумка f (sedumka)
• Naga:

  Khiamniungan Naga: tshǖnīeh

• Norwegian: sjutall n, syvtall n
• Pennsylvania German: siwwe
• Polish: siódemka (pl) f
• Portuguese: sete (pt) m
• Romanian: șapte (ro)
• Russian: семёрка (ru) f (semjórka)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: сѐдмица (sh) f

  Latin: sèdmica (sh) f

• Slovak: sedmička f
• Spanish: siete (es)
• Swahili: saba (sw)
• Swedish: sjua (sv) c
• Tagalog: pito (tl)
• Walloon: set (wa)

a card bearing seven pips

• Bulgarian: седми́ца (bg) f (sedmíca)
• Catalan: set (ca) m
• Danish: syver c
• Dutch: zeven (nl) f
• Finnish: seiska (fi)
• Hungarian: hetes (hu)
• Macedonian: седмица f (sedmica)
• Polish: siódemka (pl) f
• Portuguese: sete (pt) m
• Russian: семёрка (ru) f (semjórka)
• Slovak: sedma f
• Swedish: sjua (sv) c

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Romanian: (1) ^{(please verify)} șapte (ro) m, (2) ^{(please verify)} șeptar (ro) m
• Ukrainian: ^{(please verify)} сі́мка (uk) f (símka)

See also

Playing cards in English · playing cards (layout · text)
ace	deuce, two	three, trey	four, cater	five, cinque	six	seven
eight	nine	ten	jack, knave	queen	king	joker

Anagrams

• Evens, Neves, eevns, evens, neves, névés

Bislama

Bislama cardinal numbers

<  6	7	8  >
Cardinal : seven

Etymology

From English seven.

Numeral

seven

1. seven

Breton

Adjective

seven

1. courteous

Fanagalo

Etymology

Borrowed from English seven.

Numeral

seven

1. seven

Low German

Numeral

seven

1. alternative form of söven (seven (7))

Middle Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈzɛːvən/

Etymology 1

From Old Dutch sivun, sivon, from Proto-West Germanic *sebun, from Proto-Germanic *sebun.

Numeral

sēven

1. seven

Descendants

• Dutch: zeven, zeuven
  • Afrikaans: sewe
  • Berbice Creole Dutch: sewn
  • Javindo: seven
  • Jersey Dutch: zœve, zûve
  • Negerhollands: seven, seeven
  • Sranan Tongo: seibi, seben, seebien, zeven
    • Aukan: seibin
    • Saramaccan: sebèn
  • → Trió: seihpë
• Limburgish: zeve
• West Flemish: zēvne
• Zealandic: zeven

Etymology 2

From sēve +‎ -en.

Verb

sēven

1. to sift, to sieve

Inflection

Conjugation of sēven (weak)

infinitive	base form	sēven
	genitive	sēvens
	dative	sēvene
		indicative			subjunctive
		present	past		present	past
1st person singular		sēve	—		sēve	—
2nd person singular		sēefs, sēves	—		sēefs, sēves	—
3rd person singular		sēeft, sēvet	—		sēve	—
1st person plural		sēven	—		sēven	—
2nd person plural		sēeft, sēvet	—		sēeft, sēvet	—
3rd person plural		sēven	—		sēven	—
		imperative
singular		sēef, sēve
plural		sēeft, sēvet
		present	past
participle		sēvende	—

Descendants

• Dutch: zeven

Further reading

• “seven”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
• Verwijs, E.; Verdam, J. (1885–1929), “seven (I)”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, →ISBN, page I
• Verwijs, E.; Verdam, J. (1885–1929), “seven (IV)”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, →ISBN, page IV

Middle English

Middle English numbers ^(edit)

	70
←  6	7	8  →
Cardinal: seven     Ordinal: seventhe, sefte     Multiplier: sevenfold

Etymology 1

Inherited from Old English seofon, from Proto-West Germanic *sebun, from Proto-Germanic *sebun, from Proto-Indo-European *septḿ̥.

The frequent lack of open-syllable lengthening is presumably due to levelling from postpositive sevene and the ordinal seventhe.

Alternative forms

• ceven, seofen, seoven, sevene, sevyn, sewyn
• zeven (Kent)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsɛvən/, (especially Northern) /ˈsɛ̞ːvən/
• IPA^(key): /ˈsœvən/ (Early Middle English, Southern or Southwest Midland)

Numeral

seven (postpositive sevene, preconsonantal (especially Southern or West Midland) seve)

1. seven
   • c. 1225, Ancrene Ƿiſſe (MS. Corpus Christi 402)‎^[3], Ludlow, Shropshire, published c. 1235, folio 53, verso; republished at Cambridge: Parker Library on the Web, January 2018:

     Þe neddꝛe of attrı onde haueð ſeoue hƿelpeſ. Ingratıtudo. þıſ cundel bꝛet hwa ſe nıſ ıcnaƿen goddede. ah teleð lutel þrof. oþer foꝛȝet mıd alle.

     The snake of poisonous envy has seven children. Ingratitude: this child is nurtured by whoever hasn't acknowledged benefits and hardly thinks about or [even] entirely forgets [them].

   • c. 1395, John Wycliffe, John Purvey [et al.], transl., Bible (Wycliffite Bible (later version), MS Lich 10.)‎^[4], published c. 1410, Apocalips 17:9, folio 123, recto, column 2; republished as Wycliffe's translation of the New Testament, Lichfield: Bill Endres, 2010:

     ⁊ þis is þe wit who þat haþ wiſdom / þe ſeuene heedis ben ſeuene hillis .· on which þe womman ſittiþ

     And the mind that has wisdom thinks: "The seven heads are the seven hills that the woman sits on […]

Derived terms

• on sixe and sevene

Related terms

• sevenfold
• seventene
• seventhe
• seventy
• sevenyght

Descendants

• English: seven

  Northumbrian: siven

  Ottawa Valley: sen

• Middle Scots: sevin, sewin
  • Scots: seiven, seeven
• Yola: zeven

References

• “sē̆ven, num.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Etymology 2

Noun

seven

1. alternative form of sweven

Scots

Numeral

seven

1. alternative form of seiven

Tok Pisin

Tok Pisin numbers ^(edit)

	70
←  6	7	8  →
Cardinal: seven

Etymology

From English seven.

Numeral

seven

1. seven

Usage notes

Used when counting; see also sevenpela.

Coordinate terms

Tok Pisin cardinal numbers from 1 to 99

	—0	—1	—2	—3	—4	—5	—6	—7	—8	—9
0—	—	wan	tu	tri	foa	faiv	sikis	seven	et	nain
10—	ten	eleven	twelv	tetin	fotin	fiftin	sikistin	seventin	etin	naintin
20—	twenti	tupela ten wan	tupela ten tu	tupela ten tri	tupela ten foa	tupela ten faiv	tupela ten sikis	tupela ten seven	tupela ten et	tupela ten nain
30—	teti	tripela ten wan	tripela ten tu	tripela ten tri	tripela ten foa	tripela ten faiv	tripela ten sikis	tripela ten seven	tripela ten et	tripela ten nain
40—	foti	fopela ten wan	fopela ten tu	fopela ten tri	fopela ten foa	fopela ten faiv	fopela ten sikis	fopela ten seven	fopela ten et	fopela ten nain
50—	fifti	faivpela ten wan	faivpela ten tu	faivpela ten tri	faivpela ten foa	faivpela ten faiv	faivpela ten sikis	faivpela ten seven	faivpela ten et	faivpela ten nain
60—	sikisti	sikispela ten wan	sikispela ten tu	sikispela ten tri	sikispela ten foa	sikispela ten faiv	sikispela ten sikis	sikispela ten seven	sikispela ten et	sikispela ten nain
70—	seventi	sevenpela ten wan	sevenpela ten tu	sevenpela ten tri	sevenpela ten foa	sevenpela ten faiv	sevenpela ten sikis	sevenpela ten seven	sevenpela ten et	sevenpela ten nain
80—	eti	etpela ten wan	etpela ten tu	etpela ten tri	etpela ten foa	etpela ten faiv	etpela ten sikis	etpela ten seven	etpela ten et	etpela ten nain
90—	nainti	nainpela ten wan	nainpela ten tu	nainpela ten tri	nainpela ten foa	nainpela ten faiv	nainpela ten sikis	nainpela ten seven	nainpela ten et	nainpela ten nain

Turkish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /seˈven/, [seˈʋæn]
• Hyphenation: sev‧en

Adjective

seven

1. loving, affectionate

Related terms

• sevgi
• sevilen
• sevmek
• sevecen

Noun

seven (definite accusative seveni, plural sevenler)

1. lover (somebody who loves)

Declension

Declension of seven

singular plural nominative seven sevenler definite accusative seveni sevenleri dative sevene sevenlere locative sevende sevenlerde ablative sevenden sevenlerden genitive sevenin sevenlerin Possessive forms nominative singular plural 1st singular sevenim sevenlerim 2nd singular sevenin sevenlerin 3rd singular seveni sevenleri 1st plural sevenimiz sevenlerimiz 2nd plural seveniniz sevenleriniz 3rd plural sevenleri sevenleri definite accusative singular plural 1st singular sevenimi sevenlerimi 2nd singular sevenini sevenlerini 3rd singular sevenini sevenlerini 1st plural sevenimizi sevenlerimizi 2nd plural seveninizi sevenlerinizi 3rd plural sevenlerini sevenlerini dative singular plural 1st singular sevenime sevenlerime 2nd singular sevenine sevenlerine 3rd singular sevenine sevenlerine 1st plural sevenimize sevenlerimize 2nd plural seveninize sevenlerinize 3rd plural sevenlerine sevenlerine locative singular plural 1st singular sevenimde sevenlerimde 2nd singular seveninde sevenlerinde 3rd singular seveninde sevenlerinde 1st plural sevenimizde sevenlerimizde 2nd plural seveninizde sevenlerinizde 3rd plural sevenlerinde sevenlerinde ablative singular plural 1st singular sevenimden sevenlerimden 2nd singular seveninden sevenlerinden 3rd singular seveninden sevenlerinden 1st plural sevenimizden sevenlerimizden 2nd plural seveninizden sevenlerinizden 3rd plural sevenlerinden sevenlerinden genitive singular plural 1st singular sevenimin sevenlerimin 2nd singular seveninin sevenlerinin 3rd singular seveninin sevenlerinin 1st plural sevenimizin sevenlerimizin 2nd plural seveninizin sevenlerinizin 3rd plural sevenlerinin sevenlerinin

Antonyms

• sevmeyen