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8 (eight) is the natural number following 7 and preceding 9.


In mathematics

8 is: * a composite number, its proper divisors being , , and . It is twice 4 or four times 2. * a power of two, being 2 (two cubed), and is the first number of the form , being an integer greater than 1. * the first number which is neither prime nor semiprime. * the base of the octal number system, which is mostly used with
computer A computer is a machine that can be programmed to Execution (computing), carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (computation) automatically. Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic sets of operations known as C ...
s. In octal, one digit represents three bits. In modern computers, a byte is a grouping of eight bits, also called an octet. * a Fibonacci number, being plus . The next Fibonacci number is . 8 is the only positive Fibonacci number, aside from 1, that is a perfect cube. * the only nonzero perfect power that is one less than another perfect power, by Mihăilescu's Theorem. * the order of the smallest non-abelian group all of whose subgroups are normal. * the dimension of the octonions and is the highest possible dimension of a normed division algebra. * the first number to be the aliquot sum of two numbers other than itself; the discrete biprime , and the square number . A number is divisible by 8 if its last three digits, when written in
decimal The decimal numeral system (also called the base-ten positional numeral system and denary or decanary) is the standard system for denoting integer and non-integer numbers. It is the extension to non-integer numbers of the Hindu–Arabic numeral ...
, are also divisible by 8, or its last three digits are 0 when written in binary. A polygon with eight sides is an
octagon In geometry, an octagon (from the Greek ὀκτάγωνον ''oktágōnon'', "eight angles") is an eight-sided polygon or 8-gon. A '' regular octagon'' has Schläfli symbol and can also be constructed as a quasiregular truncated square, t, whi ...
. The sides and
span Span may refer to: Science, technology and engineering * Span (unit), the width of a human hand * Span (engineering), a section between two intermediate supports * Wingspan, the distance between the wingtips of a bird or aircraft * Sorbitan es ...
of a regular octagon, or truncated square, are in silver ratio, and its circumscribing square has a side and diagonal length ratio of ; with both the silver ratio and the square root of two intimately interconnected through Pell numbers, where in particular the quotient of successive Pell numbers generates rational approximations for coordinates of a regular octagon. With a central angle of 45 degrees and an internal angle of 135 degrees, regular octagons are able to tessellate two-dimensional space alongside squares in the truncated square tiling, as well as fill a plane-vertex with a regular triangle and a regular icositetragon. The
Ammann–Beenker tiling In geometry, an Ammann–Beenker tiling is a nonperiodic tiling which can be generated either by an aperiodic set of prototiles as done by Robert Ammann in the 1970s, or by the cut-and-project method as done independently by F. P. M. Beenker. Th ...
is a nonperiodic tesselation of prototiles that feature prominent octagonal ''silver'' eightfold symmetry, and is the two-dimensional orthogonal projection of the
8-8 duoprism In geometry of 4 dimensions or higher, a double prism or duoprism is a polytope resulting from the Cartesian product of two polytopes, each of two dimensions or higher. The Cartesian product of an -polytope and an -polytope is an -polytope, wher ...
. In number theory, figurate numbers representing octagons are called octagonal numbers. A
cube In geometry, a cube is a three-dimensional solid object bounded by six square faces, facets or sides, with three meeting at each vertex. Viewed from a corner it is a hexagon and its net is usually depicted as a cross. The cube is the only r ...
is a regular polyhedron with eight vertices that also forms the cubic honeycomb, the only regular honeycomb in three-dimensional space. Through various truncation operations, the cubic honeycomb generates eight other convex uniform honeycombs under the group _3. The octahedron, with eight equilateral triangles as faces, is the dual polyhedron to the cube and one of eight convex deltahedra. The stella octangula, or ''eight-pointed star'', is the only
stellation In geometry, stellation is the process of extending a polygon in two dimensions, polyhedron in three dimensions, or, in general, a polytope in ''n'' dimensions to form a new figure. Starting with an original figure, the process extends specific el ...
with octahedral symmetry. It has eight triangular faces alongside eight vertices that form a cubic faceting, composed of two self-dual tetrahedra that makes it the simplest of five regular compound polyhedra. The cuboctahedron, on the other hand, is a rectified cube or rectified octahedron, and one of only two convex
quasiregular polyhedra In geometry, a quasiregular polyhedron is a uniform polyhedron that has exactly two kinds of regular polygon, regular faces, which alternate around each vertex (geometry), vertex. They are vertex-transitive and edge-transitive, hence a step closer ...
. It contains eight equilateral triangular faces alongside six squares, whose first
stellation In geometry, stellation is the process of extending a polygon in two dimensions, polyhedron in three dimensions, or, in general, a polytope in ''n'' dimensions to form a new figure. Starting with an original figure, the process extends specific el ...
is the cube-octahedron compound. The hexagonal prism, which classifies as an irregular octahedron that is a parallelohedron, like the cube, is able to tessellate space as a three-dimensional analogue of the hexagon. The gyrobifastigium, with four square faces and four triangular faces, is the only
Johnson solid In geometry, a Johnson solid is a strictly convex polyhedron each face of which is a regular polygon. There is no requirement that isohedral, each face must be the same polygon, or that the same polygons join around each Vertex (geometry), ver ...
that is able to tessellate space, while the
truncated octahedron In geometry, the truncated octahedron is the Archimedean solid that arises from a regular octahedron by removing six pyramids, one at each of the octahedron's vertices. The truncated octahedron has 14 faces (8 regular hexagon, hexagons and 6 Squa ...
, also a parallelohedron, is the permutohedron of order four, with eight hexagonal faces alongside six squares that is likewise the only
Archimedean solid In geometry, an Archimedean solid is one of the 13 solids first enumerated by Archimedes. They are the convex uniform polyhedra composed of regular polygons meeting in identical vertices, excluding the five Platonic solids (which are composed ...
that can generate a honeycomb on its own.
Vertex-transitive In geometry, a polytope (e.g. a polygon or polyhedron) or a tiling is isogonal or vertex-transitive if all its vertices are equivalent under the symmetries of the figure. This implies that each vertex is surrounded by the same kinds of face in ...
semiregular polytopes whose facets are ''finite'' exist up through the 8th dimension. In the
third dimension Three-dimensional space (also: 3D space, 3-space or, rarely, tri-dimensional space) is a geometric setting in which three values (called ''parameters'') are required to determine the position of an element (i.e., point). This is the informal ...
, they include the Archimedean solids and the infinite family of uniform prisms and antiprisms, while in the
fourth dimension Fourth dimension may refer to: Science * Time in physics, the continued progress of existence and events * Four-dimensional space, the concept of a fourth spatial dimension * Spacetime, the unification of time and space as a four-dimensional con ...
, only the rectified 5-cell, the rectified 600-cell, and the snub 24-cell are semiregular polytopes. For dimensions
five 5 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 5, five or number 5 may also refer to: * AD 5, the fifth year of the AD era * 5 BC, the fifth year before the AD era Literature * ''5'' (visual novel), a 2008 visual novel by Ram * ''5'' (comics), an awa ...
through eight, the demipenteract and the k21 polytopes 221, 321, and 421 are the only semiregular (
Gosset Gosset, founded in 1584, is the oldest wine house in Champagne. In 1584, Pierre Gosset, alderman of Aÿ and wine-grower, made still, mostly red, wines from the grapes he harvested from his own vines. In those days, two wines vied for pride of pl ...
) polytopes. Collectively, the k21 family of polytopes contains eight figures that are rooted in the triangular prism, which is the simplest semiregular polytope that is made of three cubes and two equilateral triangles. It also includes one of only three semiregular Euclidean honeycombs: the affine 521 honeycomb that represents the arrangement of vertices of the eight-dimensional \mathrm E_ lattice, and made of 421 facets. The culminating figure is the ninth-dimensional 621 honeycomb, which is the only affine semiregular paracompact hyperbolic honeycomb with infinite facets and vertex figures in the k21 family. There are no other finite semiregular polytopes or honeycombs in dimensions ''n'' > 8. Sphenic numbers always have exactly eight divisors. The number 8 is involved with a number of interesting mathematical phenomena related to the notion of Bott periodicity. If O(\infty) is the direct limit of the inclusions of real orthogonal groups O(1)\hookrightarrow O(2)\hookrightarrow\ldots\hookrightarrow O(k)\hookrightarrow\ldots, the following holds: :\pi_(O(\infty))\cong\pi_(O(\infty)). Clifford algebras also display a periodicity of 8. For example, the algebra ''Cl''(''p'' + 8,''q'') is isomorphic to the algebra of 16 by 16 matrices with entries in ''Cl''(''p'',''q''). We also see a period of 8 in the K-theory of spheres and in the representation theory of the rotation groups, the latter giving rise to the 8 by 8 spinorial chessboard. All of these properties are closely related to the properties of the octonions. The spin group Spin(8) is the unique such group that exhibits the phenomenon of triality. The lowest-dimensional even unimodular lattice is the 8-dimensional \mathrm E_ lattice. Even positive definite unimodular lattices exist only in dimensions divisible by 8. A figure 8 is the common name of a
geometric Geometry (; ) is, with arithmetic, one of the oldest branches of mathematics. It is concerned with properties of space such as the distance, shape, size, and relative position of figures. A mathematician who works in the field of geometry is ca ...
shape, often used in the context of sports, such as skating. Figure-eight turns of a rope or cable around a cleat, pin, or bitt are used to belay something.


List of basic calculations


Etymology

English ''eight'', from Old English ''eahta, æhta'', Proto-Germanic ''*ahto'' is a direct continuation of Proto-Indo-European '' *oḱtṓ(w)-'', and as such cognate with Greek and Latin ''octo-'', both of which stems are reflected by the English prefix oct(o)-, as in the ordinal adjective ''octaval'' or ''octavary'', the distributive adjective is ''
octonary : ''For the base-8 numeral system, see octal.'' An octonary is an eight-line section in a poem, song or psalm. The most notable example is found in Psalm 119Calvin ''Bible Commentaries: Psalms, Part IV'' p287 "Some call this the octonary psalm, bec ...
''. The adjective ''octuple'' (Latin ''octu-plus'') may also be used as a noun, meaning "a set of eight items"; the diminutive '' octuplet'' is mostly used to refer to eight siblings delivered in one birth. The Semitic numeral is based on a root ''*θmn-'', whence Akkadian ''smn-'', Arabic ''ṯmn-'', Hebrew ''šmn-'' etc. The Chinese numeral, written (
Mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...
: ''bā''; Cantonese: ''baat''), is from Old Chinese ''*priāt-'', ultimately from Sino-Tibetan ''b-r-gyat'' or ''b-g-ryat'' which also yielded Tibetan '' brgyat''. It has been argued that, as the cardinal number is the highest number of items that can universally be cognitively processed as a single set, the etymology of the numeral ''eight'' might be the first to be considered composite, either as "twice four" or as "two short of ten", or similar. The
Turkic Turkic may refer to: * anything related to the country of Turkey * Turkic languages, a language family of at least thirty-five documented languages ** Turkic alphabets (disambiguation) ** Turkish language, the most widely spoken Turkic language * ...
words for "eight" are from a Proto-Turkic stem ''*sekiz'', which has been suggested as originating as a negation of ''eki'' "two", as in "without two fingers" (i.e., "two short of ten; two fingers are not being held up"); this same principle is found in Finnic '' *kakte-ksa'', which conveys a meaning of "two before (ten)". The Proto-Indo-European reconstruction '' *oḱtṓ(w)-'' itself has been argued as representing an old dual, which would correspond to an original meaning of "twice four". Proponents of this "quaternary hypothesis" adduce the numeral ', which might be built on the stem ''new-'', meaning "new" (indicating the beginning of a "new set of numerals" after having counted to eight).


Evolution of the Arabic digit

The modern digit 8, like all modern
Arabic numerals Arabic numerals are the ten numerical digits: , , , , , , , , and . They are the most commonly used symbols to write Decimal, decimal numbers. They are also used for writing numbers in other systems such as octal, and for writing identifiers ...
other than zero, originates with the Brahmi numerals. The Brahmi digit for ''eight'' by the 1st century was written in one stroke as a curve └┐ looking like an uppercase H with the bottom half of the left line and the upper half of the right line removed. However, the digit for eight used in India in the early centuries of the Common Era developed considerable graphic variation, and in some cases took the shape of a single wedge, which was adopted into the Perso-Arabic tradition as ٨ (and also gave rise to the later Devanagari form ); the alternative curved glyph also existed as a variant in Perso-Arabic tradition, where it came to look similar to our digit 5. The digits as used in Al-Andalus by the 10th century were a distinctive western variant of the glyphs used in the Arabic-speaking world, known as ''ghubār'' numerals (''ghubār'' translating to " sand table"). In these digits, the line of the ''5''-like glyph used in Indian manuscripts for eight came to be formed in ghubār as a closed loop, which was the ''8''-shape that became adopted into European use in the 10th century. Just as in most modern typefaces, in typefaces with text figures the character for the digit 8 usually has an ascender, as, for example, in . The infinity symbol ∞, described as a "sideways figure eight", is unrelated to the digit 8 in origin; it is first used (in the mathematical meaning "infinity") in the 17th century, and it may be derived from the Roman numeral for "one thousand" CIƆ, or alternatively from the final Greek letter, ω.


In science


Physics

* In nuclear physics, the second magic number. * In particle physics, the eightfold way is used to classify sub-atomic particles. * In
statistical mechanics In physics, statistical mechanics is a mathematical framework that applies statistical methods and probability theory to large assemblies of microscopic entities. It does not assume or postulate any natural laws, but explains the macroscopic be ...
, the eight-vertex model has 8 possible configurations of arrows at each vertex.


Astronomy

* Messier object M8, a magnitude 5.0
nebula A nebula ('cloud' or 'fog' in Latin; pl. nebulae, nebulæ or nebulas) is a distinct luminescent part of interstellar medium, which can consist of ionized, neutral or molecular hydrogen and also cosmic dust. Nebulae are often star-forming regio ...
in the
constellation A constellation is an area on the celestial sphere in which a group of visible stars forms Asterism (astronomy), a perceived pattern or outline, typically representing an animal, mythological subject, or inanimate object. The origins of the e ...
of Sagittarius. * The
New General Catalogue The ''New General Catalogue of Nebulae and Clusters of Stars'' (abbreviated NGC) is an astronomical catalogue of deep-sky objects compiled by John Louis Emil Dreyer in 1888. The NGC contains 7,840 objects, including galaxies, star clusters and ...
br>object
NGC 8, a double star in the constellation
Pegasus Pegasus ( grc-gre, Πήγασος, Pḗgasos; la, Pegasus, Pegasos) is one of the best known creatures in Greek mythology. He is a winged divine stallion usually depicted as pure white in color. He was sired by Poseidon, in his role as hor ...
. * Since the demotion of Pluto to a dwarf planet on 24 August 2006, in our Solar System, eight of the bodies orbiting the Sun are considered to be planets.


Chemistry

* The atomic number of oxygen. * The most stable allotrope of a
sulfur Sulfur (or sulphur in British English) is a chemical element with the symbol S and atomic number 16. It is abundant, multivalent and nonmetallic. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms form cyclic octatomic molecules with a chemical formula ...
molecule is made of eight sulfur atoms arranged in a rhombic form. * The maximum number of electrons that can occupy a valence shell. * The red pigment lycopene consists of eight
isoprene Isoprene, or 2-methyl-1,3-butadiene, is a common volatile organic compound with the formula CH2=C(CH3)−CH=CH2. In its pure form it is a colorless volatile liquid. Isoprene is an unsaturated hydrocarbon. It is produced by many plants and animals ...
units.


Geology

* A
disphenoid In geometry, a disphenoid () is a tetrahedron whose four faces are congruent acute-angled triangles. It can also be described as a tetrahedron in which every two edges that are opposite each other have equal lengths. Other names for the same sh ...
crystal is bounded by eight scalene triangles arranged in pairs. A ditetragonal prism in the tetragonal crystal system has eight similar faces whose alternate interfacial angles only are equal.


Biology

* All spiders, and more generally all arachnids, have eight legs. Orb-weaver spiders of the cosmopolitan family Areneidae have eight similar eyes. * The
octopus An octopus ( : octopuses or octopodes, see below for variants) is a soft-bodied, eight- limbed mollusc of the order Octopoda (, ). The order consists of some 300 species and is grouped within the class Cephalopoda with squids, cuttle ...
and its cephalopod relatives in genus ''Argonauta'' have eight arms (tentacles). * Compound coelenterates of the subclass or order
Alcyonaria Octocorallia (also known as Alcyonaria) is a class of Anthozoa comprising around 3,000 species of water-based organisms formed of colonial polyps with 8-fold symmetry. It includes the blue coral, soft corals, sea pens, and gorgonians (sea fans ...
have polyps with eight-branched tentacles and eight septa. * Sea anemones of genus '' Edwardsia'' have eight mesenteries. * Animals of phylum Ctenophora swim by means of eight meridional bands of transverse ciliated plates, each plate representing a row of large modified cilia. * The eight-spotted forester (genus ''Alypia'', family Zygaenidae) is a diurnal moth having black wings with brilliant white spots. * The
ascus An ascus (; ) is the sexual spore-bearing cell produced in ascomycete fungi. Each ascus usually contains eight ascospores (or octad), produced by meiosis followed, in most species, by a mitotic cell division. However, asci in some genera or s ...
in fungi of the class
Ascomycetes Ascomycota is a phylum of the kingdom Fungi that, together with the Basidiomycota, forms the subkingdom Dikarya. Its members are commonly known as the sac fungi or ascomycetes. It is the largest phylum of Fungi, with over 64,000 species. The defi ...
, following nuclear fusion, bears within it typically eight ascospores. * Herbs of genus '' Coreopsis'' (tickseed) have showy flower heads with involucral bracts in two distinct series of eight each. * In human adult dentition there are eight teeth in each quadrant. The eighth tooth is the so-called wisdom tooth. * There are eight cervical nerves on each side in man and most mammals.


Psychology

* There are eight Jungian cognitive functions, according to the MBTI models by John Beebe and Linda Berens. * Timothy Leary identified a hierarchy of eight levels of consciousness.


In technology

* A byte is eight bits. * Many (mostly historic) computer architectures are eight-bit, among them the
Nintendo Entertainment System The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit third-generation home video game console produced by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan in 1983 as the commonly known as the The NES, a redesigned version, was released in America ...
. * Standard-8 and
Super-8 Super 8 mm film is a motion-picture film format released in 1965 by Eastman Kodak as an improvement over the older "Double" or "Regular" 8 mm home movie format. The film is nominally 8 mm wide, the same as older formatted 8& ...
are 8 mm film formats. * Video8, Hi8 and Digital8 are related
8 mm video format The 8mm video format refers informally to three related videocassette formats. These are the original Video8 (analog recording) format and its improved successor Hi8 (analog video and analog audio but with provision for digital audio), as well as ...
s. * On most phones, the 8 key is associated with the letters T, U, and V, but on the BlackBerry Pearl it is the key for B and N. * An eight may refer to an eight-cylinder engine or automobile. A V8 engine is an internal combustion engine with eight cylinders configured in two banks (rows) of four forming a "V" when seen from the end. * A figure-eight knot (so named for its configuration) is a kind of stopper knot. * The number eight written in parentheses is the code for the musical note in Windows Live Messenger. * In a seven-segment display, when an 8 is illuminated, all the display bulbs are on.


In measurement

* The
SI prefix The International System of Units, known by the international abbreviation SI in all languages and sometimes pleonastically as the SI system, is the modern form of the metric system and the world's most widely used system of measurement. E ...
for 10008 is yotta (Y), and for its reciprocal, yocto (y). * In liquid measurement (
United States customary units United States customary units form a system of measurement units commonly used in the United States and U.S. territories since being standardized and adopted in 1832. The United States customary system (USCS or USC) developed from English units ...
), there are eight fluid ounces in a
cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay, ...
, eight pints in a gallon and eight tablespoonfuls in a gill. * There are eight furlongs in a mile. * The clove, an old English unit of weight, was equal to eight pounds when measuring cheese. * An eight may be an article of clothing of the eighth size. * Force eight is the first wind strength attributed to a gale on the
Beaufort scale The Beaufort scale is an empirical measure that relates wind speed to observed conditions at sea or on land. Its full name is the Beaufort wind force scale. History The scale was devised in 1805 by the Irish hydrographer Francis Beaufort ...
when announced on a Shipping Forecast.


In culture


Currency

* Sailors and civilians alike from the 1500s onward referred to evenly divided parts of the Spanish dollar as "pieces of eight", or "bits".


Architecture

* Various types of buildings are usually eight-sided (octagonal), such as single-roomed gazebos and multi-roomed pagodas (descended from stupas; see religion section below). * Eight caulicoles rise out of the leafage in a
Corinthian capital The Corinthian order (Greek: Κορινθιακός ρυθμός, Latin: ''Ordo Corinthius'') is the last developed of the three principal classical orders of Ancient Greek architecture and Roman architecture. The other two are the Doric order w ...
, ending in leaves that support the volutes.


In religion, folk belief and divination


Hinduism

* Also known as Ashtha, Aṣṭa, or Ashta in Sanskrit, it is the number of wealth and abundance. * The goddess of wealth and prosperity, Lakshmi, has eight forms known as Ashta Lakshmi and worshipped as:
"''Maha-lakshmi, Dhana-lakshmi, Dhanya-lakshmi, Gaja-lakshmi,
Santana-lakshmi, Veera-lakshmi, Vijaya-lakshmi and Vidhya-lakshmi''" *There are eight ''nidhi'', or seats of wealth, according to Hinduism. *There are eight guardians of the directions known as ''Astha-dikpalas''. *There are eight
Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
monasteries established by the saint Madhvacharya in Udupi, India popularly known as the '' Ashta Mathas of Udupi''.


Buddhism

* The Dharmacakra, a Buddhist symbol, has eight spokes. The Buddha's principal teaching—the
Four Noble Truths In Buddhism, the Four Noble Truths (Sanskrit: ; pi, cattāri ariyasaccāni; "The four Arya satyas") are "the truths of the Noble Ones", the truths or realities for the "spiritually worthy ones". Four Noble Truths: BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY Encycl ...
—ramifies as the Noble Eightfold Path and the Buddha emphasizes the importance of the eight attainments or jhanas. * In Mahayana Buddhism, the branches of the Eightfold Path are embodied by the Eight Great Bodhisattvas: (Manjusri, Vajrapani, Avalokiteśvara, Maitreya, Ksitigarbha, Nivaranavishkambhi, Akasagarbha, and Samantabhadra (Bodhisattva), Samantabhadra). These are later (controversially) associated with the Eight Consciousnesses according to the Yogacara school of thought: consciousness in the five senses, thought-consciousness, self-consciousness, and unconsciousness-"consciousness" or "store-house consciousness" (alaya-vijñana). The "irreversible" state of enlightenment, at which point a Bodhisattva goes on "autopilot", is the Eight Ground or ''bhūmi''. In general, "eight" seems to be an auspicious number for Buddhists, e.g., the "eight auspicious symbols" (the jewel-encrusted parasol; the goldfish (always shown as a pair, e.g., the glyph of Pisces); the self-replenishing amphora; the white ''kamala'' lotus-flower; the white conch; the eternal (Celtic-style, infinitely looping) knot; the banner of imperial victory; the eight-spoked wheel that guides the ship of state, or that symbolizes the Buddha's teaching). Similarly, Buddha's birthday falls on the 8th day of the 4th month of the
Chinese calendar The traditional Chinese calendar (also known as the Agricultural Calendar 曆; 农历; ''Nónglì''; 'farming calendar' Former Calendar 曆; 旧历; ''Jiùlì'' Traditional Calendar 曆; 老历; ''Lǎolì'', is a lunisolar calendar ...
.


Judaism

* The religious rite of
brit milah The ''brit milah'' ( he, בְּרִית מִילָה ''bərīṯ mīlā'', ; Ashkenazi Hebrew, Ashkenazi pronunciation: , "Covenant (religion), covenant of circumcision"; Yiddish pronunciation: ''bris'' ) is Religion and circumcision, the cerem ...
(commonly known as circumcision) is held on a baby boy's eighth day of life. * Hanukkah is an eight-day Jewish holiday that starts on the 25th day of Kislev. * Shemini Atzeret ( Hebrew: "Eighth Day of Assembly") is a one-day Jewish holiday immediately following the seven-day holiday of
Sukkot or ("Booths, Tabernacles") , observedby = Jews, Samaritans, a few Protestant denominations, Messianic Jews, Semitic Neopagans , type = Jewish, Samaritan , begins = 15th day of Tishrei , ends = 21st day of Tishre ...
.


Christianity

* The spiritual Eighth Day, because the number 7 refers to the days of the week (which repeat themselves). * The number of
Beatitudes The Beatitudes are sayings attributed to Jesus, and in particular eight blessings recounted by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel of Matthew, and four in the Sermon on the Plain in the Gospel of Luke, followed by four woes which mirr ...
. * 1 Peter 3:20 states that there were eight people on Noah's Ark. * The Antichrist is the eighth king in the Book of Revelation.


Islam

* In
Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
, eight is the number of angels carrying the throne of
Allah Allah (; ar, الله, translit=Allāh, ) is the common Arabic word for God. In the English language, the word generally refers to God in Islam. The word is thought to be derived by contraction from '' al- ilāh'', which means "the god", an ...
in heaven. * The number of gates of heaven


Taoism

*
Ba Gua The bagua or pakua (八卦) are a set of eight symbols that originated in China, used in Taoist cosmology to represent the fundamental principles of reality, seen as a range of eight interrelated concepts. Each consists of three lines, each lin ...
* Ba Xian * Ba Duan Jin


Other

* In Wicca, there are eight Sabbats, festivals, seasons, or spokes in the Wheel of the Year. * In Ancient Egyptian mythology, the Ogdoad represents the eight primordial deities of creation. * In Scientology there are eight dynamics of existence. * There is also the Ogdoad in Gnosticism.


As a lucky number

* The number eight is considered to be a lucky number in Chinese and other Asian cultures. Eight (;
accounting Accounting, also known as accountancy, is the measurement, processing, and communication of financial and non financial information about economic entities such as businesses and corporations. Accounting, which has been called the "languag ...
; pinyin ''bā'') is considered a lucky number in Chinese culture because it sounds like the word meaning to generate wealth (; Pinyin: ''fā''). Property with the number 8 may be valued greatly by Chinese. For example, a Hong Kong number plate with the number 8 was sold for $640,000. The opening ceremony of the Summer Olympics in Beijing started at 8 seconds and 8 minutes past 8 pm (local time) on 8 August 2008. * In Pythagorean
numerology Numerology (also known as arithmancy) is the belief in an occult, divine or mystical relationship between a number and one or more coinciding events. It is also the study of the numerical value, via an alphanumeric system, of the letters in ...
(a pseudoscience) the number 8 represents victory, prosperity and overcoming. * is also considered a lucky number in
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
, but the reason is different from that in Chinese culture. Eight gives an idea of growing prosperous, because the letter () broadens gradually. * The Japanese thought of as a holy number in the ancient times. The reason is less well-understood, but it is thought that it is related to the fact they used eight to express large numbers vaguely such as (literally, eightfold and twentyfold), (literally, eight clouds), (literally, eight millions of Gods), etc. It is also guessed that the ancient Japanese gave importance to pairs, so some researchers guess twice as , which is also guessed to be a holy number in those times because it indicates the world (north, south, east, and west) might be considered a very holy number. * In
numerology Numerology (also known as arithmancy) is the belief in an occult, divine or mystical relationship between a number and one or more coinciding events. It is also the study of the numerical value, via an alphanumeric system, of the letters in ...
, 8 is the number of building, and in some theories, also the number of destruction.


In astrology

* In astrology, Scorpio is the 8th astrological sign of the Zodiac. * In the Middle Ages, 8 was the number of "unmoving" stars in the sky, and symbolized the perfection of incoming planetary energy.


In music and dance

* A note played for one-eighth the duration of a whole note is called an eighth note, or quaver. * An
octave In music, an octave ( la, octavus: eighth) or perfect octave (sometimes called the diapason) is the interval between one musical pitch and another with double its frequency. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been refer ...
, the interval between two musical notes with the same letter name (where one has double the frequency of the other), is so called because there are eight notes between the two on a standard major or minor
diatonic scale In music theory, a diatonic scale is any heptatonic scale that includes five whole steps (whole tones) and two half steps (semitones) in each octave, in which the two half steps are separated from each other by either two or three whole steps, ...
, including the notes themselves and without chromatic deviation. The ecclesiastical modes are ascending diatonic musical scales of eight notes or tones comprising an octave. * There are eight notes in the octatonic scale. * There are eight musicians in a double quartet or an octet. Both terms may also refer to a musical composition for eight voices or instruments. * Caledonians is a square dance for eight, resembling the quadrille. * Albums with the number eight in their title include ''8'' by the Swedish band Arvingarna, '' 8'' by the American rock band Incubus, '' The Meaning of 8'' by Minnesota indie rock band Cloud Cult and ''8ight'' by Anglo-American singer-songwriter Beatie Wolfe. *
Dream Theater Dream Theater is an American progressive metal band formed in 1985 under the name Majesty by John Petrucci, John Myung and Mike Portnoy while they attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. They subsequently dropped out of the ...
's eighth album '' Octavarium'' contains many different references to the number 8, including the number of songs and various aspects of the music and cover artwork. * "Eight maids a-milking" is the gift on the eighth day of Christmas in the carol "
The Twelve Days of Christmas The Twelve Days of Christmas, also known as Twelvetide, is a festive Christian season celebrating the Nativity of Jesus. In some Western ecclesiastical traditions, "Christmas Day" is considered the "First Day of Christmas" and the Twelve Days a ...
". * The 8-track cartridge is a musical recording format. * "#8" is the stage name of Slipknot vocalist
Corey Taylor Corey Todd Taylor (born December 8, 1973) is an American musician, songwriter and actor. He is the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Slipknot (band), Slipknot, in which he is designated #8, as well as the lead vocalist and guitarist for the ...
. * "Too Many Eights" is a song by Athens, Georgia's
Supercluster A supercluster is a large group of smaller galaxy clusters or galaxy groups; they are among the largest known structures in the universe. The Milky Way is part of the Local Group galaxy group (which contains more than 54 galaxies), which in turn ...
. * Eight Seconds, a Canadian musical group popular in the 1980s with their most notable song "Kiss You (When It's Dangerous)". * "
Eight Days a Week "Eight Days a Week" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles. It was written by Paul McCartney and John Lennon based on McCartney's original idea. The song was released in the United Kingdom in December 1964 on the album ''Beatles for Sale ...
" is a #1 single for the music group The Beatles. * ''Figure 8'' is the fifth studio album by singer-songwriter
Elliott Smith Steven Paul Smith (August 6, 1969 – October 21, 2003), known professionally as Elliott Smith, was an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Smith was born in Omaha, Nebraska, raised primarily in Texas, and lived much of hi ...
, released in the year 2000, an album released by Julia Darling in 1999, and an album released by Outasight in 2011. * Ming Hao from the k-pop group
Seventeen Seventeen or 17 may refer to: *17 (number), the natural number following 16 and preceding 18 * one of the years 17 BC, AD 17, 1917, 2017 Literature Magazines * ''Seventeen'' (American magazine), an American magazine * ''Seventeen'' (Japanese m ...
goes by the name "The8". * "8 (circle)" is the eighth song on the album ''
22, A Million ''22, A Million'' is the third studio album by American indie folk band Bon Iver, released on September 30, 2016. Recorded in lead member Justin Vernon's April Base studio in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, the album marks a major shift in the band's soun ...
'' by the American band Bon Iver. * "8" is the eighth song on the album ''
When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? ''When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?'' (stylized in all caps) is the debut studio album by American singer and songwriter Billie Eilish. It was released on March 29, 2019, by Darkroom and Interscope Records in the US and Polydor Records i ...
'' by Billie Eilish.


In film and television

* '' 8 Guys'' is a 2003 short film written and directed by Dane Cook. * '' 8 Man'' (or ''Eightman''): 1963 Japanese manga and anime superhero. * ''8 Mile'' is a 2002 film directed by Curtis Hanson. * ''8 mm'' is a 1999 film directed by Joel Schumacher. * ''
8 Women ''8 Women'' (french: 8 femmes) is a 2002 dark comedy musical film written and directed by François Ozon. Based on the 1958 play by Robert Thomas, it features an ensemble cast of high-profile French actresses that includes Catherine Deneuve, Is ...
'' (Original French title: ) is a 2001 film directed by François Ozon. * '' Eight Below'' is a 2006 film directed by Frank Marshall. * '' Eight Legged Freaks'' is a 2002 film directed by Ellory Elkayem. * '' Eight Men Out'' is a 1988 film directed by John Sayles. * '' Jennifer Eight'', also known as ''Jennifer 8'', is a 1992 film written and directed by Bruce Robinson. * '' Eight Is Enough'' is an American television comedy-drama series. * In '' Stargate SG-1'' and '' Stargate Atlantis'', dialing an 8-chevron address will open a wormhole to another galaxy. * '' The Hateful Eight'' is a 2015 American western mystery film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. * '' Kate Plus 8'' is an American reality television show.


In sports and other games

*
Eight-ball Eight-ball (also spelled 8-ball or eightball, and sometimes called solids and stripes, spots and stripes or rarely highs and lows) is a discipline of pool played on a billiard table with six pockets, cue sticks, and sixteen billiard balls (a ...
pool is played with a cue ball and 15 numbered balls, the black ball numbered 8 being the middle and most important one, as the winner is the player or side that legally pockets it after first pocketing its numerical group of 7 object balls (for other meanings see '' Eight ball (disambiguation)''). * In chess, each side has eight pawns and the board is made of 64 squares arranged in an eight by eight lattice. The eight queens puzzle is a challenge to arrange eight queens on the board so that none can capture any of the others. * In the game of eights or Crazy Eights, each successive player must play a card either of the same suit or of the same rank as that played by the preceding player, or may play an eight and call for any suit. The object is to get rid of all one's cards first. * In association football, the number 8 has historically been the number of the Central Midfielder. * In
Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...
, the top eight teams at the end of the
Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling the laws of the gam ...
regular season qualify for the finals series (i.e. playoffs). * In baseball: ** The
center fielder A center fielder, abbreviated CF, is the outfielder in baseball who plays defense in center field – the baseball and softball fielding position between left field and right field. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the c ...
is designated as number 8 for scorekeeping purposes. ** The College World Series, the final phase of the NCAA Division I tournament, features eight teams. * In rugby union, the only position without a proper name is the Number 8, a forward position. * In rugby league: ** Most competitions (though not the
Super League The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of wh ...
, which uses static squad numbering) use a position-based player numbering system in which one of the two starting props wears the number 8. ** The Australia-based National Rugby League has its own 8-team finals series, similar but not identical in structure to that of the Australian Football League. * In rowing, an "eight" refers to a sweep-oar racing boat with a crew of eight rowers plus a coxswain. * In the 2008 Games of the XXIX Olympiad held in Beijing, the official opening was on 08/08/08 at 8:08:08 p.m. CST. * In Rock Climbing, climbers frequently use the Figure Eight knot to tie into their harnesses.


In foods

* Nestlé sells a brand of chocolates filled with peppermint-flavoured cream called
After Eight After Eight Mint Chocolate Thins, often referred to as simply "After Eights", are a brand of mint chocolate covered sugar confectionery. They were created by Rowntree Company Limited in the UK in 1962 and have been manufactured by Nestlé sin ...
, referring to the time 8 p.m. * There are eight vegetables in V8 juice.


In literature

* Eights may refer to
octosyllabic The octosyllable or octosyllabic verse is a line of verse with eight syllables. It is equivalent to tetrameter verse in trochees in languages with a stress accent. Its first occurrence is in a 10th-century Old French saint's legend, the '' Vie de ...
, usually iambic,
lines Line most often refers to: * Line (geometry), object with zero thickness and curvature that stretches to infinity * Telephone line, a single-user circuit on a telephone communication system Line, lines, The Line, or LINE may also refer to: Arts ...
of verse. * The drott-kvaett, an
Old Icelandic Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlement ...
verse, consisted of a stanza of eight regular lines. * In Terry Pratchett's '' Discworld'' series, eight is a magical number and is considered taboo. Eight is not safe to be said by wizards on the Discworld and is the number of Bel-Shamharoth. Also, there are eight days in a Disc week and eight colours in a Disc spectrum, the eighth one being octarine. * Lewis Carroll's poem '' The Hunting of the Snark'' has 8 "fits" (cantos), which is noted in the full name "The Hunting of the Snark – ''An Agony, in Eight Fits''." * Eight apparitions appear to
Macbeth ''Macbeth'' (, full title ''The Tragedie of Macbeth'') is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. It is thought to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those w ...
in Act 4 scene 1 of Shakespeare's ''
Macbeth ''Macbeth'' (, full title ''The Tragedie of Macbeth'') is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. It is thought to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those w ...
'' as representations of the eight descendants of Banquo.


In slang

* An "eighth" is a common measurement of
marijuana Cannabis, also known as marijuana among other names, is a psychoactive drug from the cannabis plant. Native to Central or South Asia, the cannabis plant has been used as a drug for both recreational and entheogenic purposes and in various tra ...
, meaning an eighth of an ounce. It is also a common unit of sale for psilocybin mushrooms. *
Avril Lavigne Avril Ramona Lavigne ( ; born September 27, 1984) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. At age 16, she signed a two-album recording contract with Arista Records. Her debut studio album, ''Let Go (Avril Lavigne album), Let Go'' (2002), is the ...
's song " Sk8er Boi" uses this convention in the title. * "Section 8" is common U.S. slang for "crazy", based on the U.S. military's Section 8 discharge for mentally unfit personnel. * The Housing Choice Voucher Program, operated by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, is commonly referred to as the Section 8 program, as this was the original section of the Act which instituted the program. * In
Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...
and Venezuela, "volverse un ocho" (meaning to tie oneself in a figure 8) refers to getting in trouble or contradicting oneself. * In China, "8" is used in chat speak as a term for parting. This is due to the closeness in pronunciation of "8" (bā) and the English word "bye".


See also

* The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two * List of highways numbered 8


References


External links


The Octonions
John C. Baez {{DEFAULTSORT:8 (Number) Integers 8 (number)