Etymology

fifth

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Today it means: The ordinal form of the number five. Full definition →

Middle English fifthe ← Old English fīfta ← Proto-Germanic *fimftô
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fifth · adjective, noun, verb1

  1. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*fimftô“fifth”
  2. Old English · inherited fromfīfta“fifth”
  3. Middle English · inherited fromfifthe
  4. English todayfifth

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”).

Fifth · proper noun2

(Fifth Amendment): From the name of the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, protecting various rights in US legal proceedings.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.