Minimal pairs
adj
noun
Freq #8686
Meanings
-
1
adj
coming next after the ninth and just before the eleventh in position
The tenth question was the hardest.
-
2
noun
a tenth part
The tenth question was the hardest.
-
3
noun
position ten in a countable series of things
The tenth question was the hardest.
Thesaurus
Synonyms
2
noun
· a tenth part
one-tenthten percenttenth part
Word family
Derived forms
one-tenthtenth-rate
Etymology
From Middle English tenth, tenthe. Old English had tēoþa (origin of Modern English tithe), but the force of analogy to the cardinal number "ten" caused Middle English speakers to recreate the regular ordinal and re-insert the nasal consonant. Ultimately from Proto-Germanic *tehundô. Equivalent to ten (numeral) + -th (suffix forming ordinals).