Wiktionary

fifth

See also: Fifth

English

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English numbers (edit)
50
 ←  4 5 6  → 
    Cardinal: five
    Ordinal: fifth
    Latinate ordinal: quintary, quinary
    Reverse order ordinal: fifth to last, fifth from last, last but four
    Latinate reverse order ordinal: propreantepenultimate
    Adverbial: five times
    Multiplier: fivefold
    Latinate multiplier: quintuple
    Distributive: quintuply
    Germanic collective: fivesome
    Collective of n parts: quintuplet, pentuplet
    Greek or Latinate collective: pentad
    Greek collective prefix: penta-
    Latinate collective prefix: quinque-
    Fractional: fifth
    Elemental: quintuplet, pentuplet
    Greek prefix: pempto-
    Number of musicians: quintet
    Number of years: quinquennium, lustrum

Alternative forms

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Etymology

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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. 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”).

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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fifth (not comparable)

  1. The ordinal form of the number five.

Synonyms

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  • 5th, Vth; (in names of monarchs and popes) V, V.

Derived terms

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Translations

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Noun

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fifth (plural fifths)

  1. (ellipsis or nominalization) The person or thing in the fifth position.
    1. (ellipsis) The fifth gear of a transmission.
  2. One of five equal parts of a whole: one-fifth.
  3. (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).
  4. (music) The musical interval between one note and another five scale degrees higher (the fifth note in a scale)
    • 1984, Leonard Cohen (lyrics and music), “Hallelujah”, in Various Positions:
      Now I've heard there was a secret chord / That David played, and it pleased the Lord / But you don't really care for music, do ya? / It goes like this, the fourth, the fifth
  5. The fifth voice in a polyphonic melody.

Synonyms

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  • (one of five equal parts): ⅕

Derived terms

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Translations

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Verb

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fifth (third-person singular simple present fifths, present participle fifthing, simple past and past participle fifthed)

  1. (music) To sing in the fifth voice in a polyphonic melody.
    • 1996, Music in Early English Religious Drama: Minstrels playing‎[1], page 510:
      Another extension of strict organum is 'fifthing'. Fifthing is a note-against- note method of creating a two-part texture by improvising a second voice over the given tune, starting and ending each musical phrase at the octave and proceeding mainly in fifths above the tune at others times.
    • 1978, Discant and the Theory of Fifthing‎[2]:
      Each of these three groups contributes some special insight into the nature of fifthing and the context in which it was practiced.
  2. (transitive) To support something fifth, after four others have already done so.
    • 2017, Critics Pick the TV Shows That Get Mental Health Right — IndieWire Survey‎[3]:
      Though seconding (or fifthing) the praise for “BoJack Horseman” and “In Treatment,” I think I’ll use the majority of my space to discuss “You’re the Worst.”
  3. (transitive, nonstandard) To divide by five.
    • 2006, Mathematics for Dyslexics: Including Dyscalculia‎[4], page 188:
      3/5 has been through fifthing. 2/3 has been through thirding. Therefore, 3/5 now needs thirding and 2/3 needs fifthing
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