septuagenarian

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌsɛptəd͡ʒɪˈnɛɹiən/, /ˌsɛptəwəd͡ʒɪˈnɛɹiən/, /ˌsɛpt͡ʃəd͡ʒɪˈnɛɹiən/, /ˌsɛpt͡ʃəwəd͡ʒɪˈnɛɹiən/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌsɛptjʊəd͡ʒɪˈnɛəɹɪən/, /ˌsɛptʃəd͡ʒɪˈnɛəɹɪən/, /ˌsɛptʃʊəd͡ʒɪˈnɛəɹɪən/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Noun

septuagenarian (plural septuagenarians)

1. Synonym of seventysomething: a person between 70 and 79 years old.
   • 1994, “New Age Girl”, in A Different Story, performed by Deadeye Dick:

     Mary Moon, she's a vegetarian.
     Mary Moon, Mary Moon, Mary Moon.
     Mary Moon, who will outlive all the septuagenarians.

   • 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: […]

   • 2020 December 10, Brian Lowry, “‘Let Them All Talk’ takes a breezy boat trip with Meryl Streep and company”, in CNN‎:

     “Let Them All Talk” is as breezy as an ocean cruise (pre-Covid), and mostly a welcome excuse to enjoy its three septuagenarian leads – Meryl Streep, Candice Bergen and Dianne Wiest – as they banter their way across the Atlantic.

Adjective

septuagenarian (not comparable)

1. Of or related to seventysomethings.

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

References

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