/ten/ , n.
1. a cardinal number, nine plus one.
2. a symbol for this number, as 10 or X.
3. a set of this many persons or things.
4. a playing card with ten pips.
5. Informal. a ten-dollar bill: She had two tens and a five in her purse.
6. Also called ten's place . Math.
a. (in a mixed number) the position of the second digit to the left of the decimal point.
b. (in a whole number) the position of the second digit from the right.
7. take ten , Informal. to rest from what one is doing, esp. for ten minutes.
adj.
8. amounting to ten in number.
[ bef. 900; ME ten ( e ), tenn ( e ), OE ten ( e ), tien ( e ); c. D tien, G zehn, ON tiu, Goth taihun, L decem, Gk déka, Skt dasa ]