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Meaning
The span of a life. In the days that this was coined that was considered to be seventy years.
Origin
Threescore used to be used for sixty, in the way that we still use a dozen for twelve, and (occasionally) score for twenty. It has long since died out in that usage but is still remembered in this phrase. Threescore goes back to at least 1388, as in this from John Wyclif's Bible, Leviticus 12, at that date:
"Thre scoor and sixe daies."
There are numerous uses of 'threescore' in The Bible. Most of them refer to its simple meaning as the number sixty, for example:
"...threescore and ten bullocks, an hundred rams, and two hundred lambs: all these were for a burnt offering to the Lord."
There is a use of it that refers to the span of our lives, in Psalms 90:
The days of our years are threescore years and ten;
and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years,
yet is their strength labor and sorrow;
for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.
As with many other Biblical phrases, this was picked up by Shakespeare. In Macbeth, we have:
Threescore and ten I can remember well:
Within the volume of which time I have seen
Hours dreadful and things strange; but this sore night
Hath trifled former knowings.
It's an odd fact that, although Shakespeare took numerous phrases and examples of imagery from the Bible, the word Bible doesn't appear in any of his plays.
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Where did the term score in reference to years come from?
If you are thinking of the word 'score' as a span of life, it is of biblical origin, Leviticus 12 and Psalms 90 which quotes 'there is a use of it that refers to a span of our lives' - 'the days of our years are three score years and ten'. Also borrowed by Shakespeare in Macbeth as 'Three score and ten I can remember well,' The span of life was then considered to be three score and ten, in other words 70 years
What does three score and ten days mean?
A "score" is 20. So 3 times 20 plus 10 = 70.
How many years in 8 score and ten?
Eight score and ten is 170-years. A score equals twenty-years. The most famous use of the word score, is in the Gettysburg Address. Score is a slang term for a twenty-dollar bill.
Is 20 years a decade?
No. A decade is ten years. Twenty years is two decades (or a "score" -- as in "Four score and seven years ago...").
If 100 years is a century what are 10 years?
Ten years is a decade. Twenty years is a score.
