fifth

Meaning

Adj

The ordinal form of the number five.

Noun

1. The person or thing in the fifth position.
2. (ellipsis) The person or thing in the fifth position.
3. One of five equal parts of a whole: one-fifth.
4. (US) A quantity of liquor equal to one-fifth of an American gallon, or, more commonly, 750 milliliters (that is, three quarters of a liter).
5. The musical interval between one note and another five scale degrees higher (the fifth note in a scale)
6. The fifth voice in a polyphonic melody.

Verb

1. To sing in the fifth voice in a polyphonic melody.
2. (informal, transitive) To support something fifth, after four others have already done so.
3. (nonstandard, transitive) To divide by five.

Synonyms

fifth part

one-fifth

5th

five

quint

in the fifth place

twenty percent

fifthly

wretchedness

squalor

superfluous

extraneous

the fourth

poverty

slumminess

Translations

cinquième

5th

quinto

5th

quinto

5th

fünfte

5th

vijfde

5th

quinto

5th

cinquè

5th

πέμπτος

quintus

5th

quinta

Quinte

fünfter

quinta

Fünftel

5th

Pronounced as (IPA)

/fɪfθ/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: fifthe

Inherited from Old English: fīfta

Cognate with Scots: fift

Cognate with Northern Frisian: fyfde

Cognate with Western Frisian: fyfde

Cognate with Dutch: vijfde

Cognate with Low German: fifte

Cognate with German: fünfte

Cognate with Danish: femte

Cognate with Swedish: femte

Cognate with Icelandic: fimmta

In summary

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”).

Sentences

A ritzy limousine was driving along the fifth avenue .