fifth

B1 Topic:Numbers & Quantity

US /ˈfɪfθ/ UK /fɪfθ/ See IPA manual

Freq #2937

Meanings

1

adj
Coming after the fourth and before the sixth in order.

This is the fifth time I have called her today.
2

noun
The position number five in a series.

Their team came in fifth out of several hundred entries.
3

noun
One of five equal parts of something.

About a fifth of the students passed the exam.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · coming after the fourth and... 5th

Word family

Forms fifths

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

fifth wheel
a circular bearing that lets a wagon's front axle turn beneath its body

Adjective + noun

Etymology

PIE word *pénkʷe From Middle English fifthe, fifte, fift, from Old English fīfta (“fifth”), from Proto-Germanic *fimftô (“fifth”) or *femftô, equivalent to five + -th (ordinal suffix). Cognate with Scots fift, fyft (“fifth”), North Frisian fyfde (“fifth”), West Frisian fyfde (“fifth”), Dutch vijfde (“fifth”), Low German fifte, föfte, füfte (“fifth”), German fünfte (“fifth”), Danish femte (“fifth”), Swedish femte (“fifth”), Icelandic fimmta (“fifth”).

fifthe Middle English fīfta Old English *fimftô Proto-Germanic

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Numbers & Quantity

External links

# fifth

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** adj, noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈfɪfθ/
**IPA (UK):** /fɪfθ/
**Frequency rank:** 2937

## Meanings
1. Coming after the fourth and before the sixth in order.
2. The position number five in a series.
3. One of five equal parts of something.

## Examples
- This is the fifth time I have called her today.
- Their team came in fifth out of several hundred entries.
- About a fifth of the students passed the exam.

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: fifthe
- Root: fīfta
- Root: *fimftô

## Etymology
PIE word *pénkʷe From Middle English fifthe, fifte, fift, from Old English fīfta (“fifth”), from Proto-Germanic *fimftô (“fifth”) or *femftô, equivalent to five + -th (ordinal suffix). Cognate with Scots fift, fyft (“fifth”), North Frisian fyfde (“fifth”), West Frisian fyfde (“fifth”), Dutch vijfde (“fifth”), Low German fifte, föfte, füfte (“fifth”), German fünfte (“fifth”), Danish femte (“fifth”), Swedish femte (“fifth”), Icelandic fimmta (“fifth”).

## AI Etymology
Fifth has a PIE background in *pénkʷe. Fifth comes from Middle English fifthe, fifte, fift, from Old English fīfta (“fifth”), from Proto-Germanic *fimftô (“fifth”) or *femftô, equivalent to five + -th (ordinal suffix). Cognate with Scots fift, fyft (“fifth”), North Frisian fyfde (“fifth”), West Frisian fyfde (“fifth”), Dutch vijfde (“fifth”), Low German fifte, föfte, füfte (“fifth”), German fünfte (“fifth”), Danish femte (“fifth”), Swedish femte (“fifth”), Icelandic fimmta (“fifth”). In current use, the main senses are “Coming after the fourth and before the sixth in order” and “The position number five in a series”.

## Topics
- Numbers & Quantity

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