la cinquantaine
fifty
C'est un mot utilisé pour parler d'un nombre d'environ cinquante choses ou pour décrire une personne qui a entre cinquante et soixante ans.
Definition & meaning
Cinquantaine is a feminine noun related to the number fifty. Depending on context, it means:
- About fifty; a group or quantity of roughly fifty: une cinquantaine de personnes means “about fifty people.”
- The age range around fifty, especially someone’s fifties: la cinquantaine can mean “one’s fifties” or “around the age of fifty.”
The word usually signals an approximate number rather than exactly fifty.
Grammar & Word origin
Cinquantaine is a feminine noun: une cinquantaine. It is formed from cinquante (“fifty”) and the suffix -aine , which can indicate an approximate quantity, a group, or a span of time or age.
It commonly appears in the construction une cinquantaine de , meaning “about fifty” followed by a noun.
Synonyms & antonyms
- environ cinquante — “about fifty”; a direct way to express the approximate quantity, but not a noun for the group itself.
- quinquagénaire — a person aged between fifty and fifty-nine; unlike cinquantaine, it refers to a person rather than an approximate number or age range.
There is no exact antonym. The appropriate contrast depends on the context.
Common phrases & collocations
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Examples
Une cinquantaine de livres sont sur la table.noun
About fifty books are on the table.
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