fifth

Alternative forms

• fift (obsolete)

Etymology

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

• (UK, US, standard) enPR: fĭfth, IPA^(key): /fɪfθ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪfθ
• (UK, US, informal or dialectal) enPR: fĭth, IPA^(key): /fɪθ/
• Rhymes: -ɪθ

Adjective

fifth (not comparable)

1. The ordinal form of the number five.

Noun

fifth (plural fifths)

1. The person or thing in the fifth position.
2. One of five equal parts of a whole.
3. The fifth gear of an engine.
4. A quantity of liquor equal to one-fifth of a gallon, or, more commonly, 750 milliliters.
5. The musical interval between one note and another five tones higher.
6. The fifth voice in a polyphonic melody.

Verb

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

1. a music technique
   • 1996 Music in Early English Religious Drama: Minstrels playing 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.

2. to support something fifth, after four others have already done so
   • 2017 Critics Pick the TV Shows That Get Mental Health Right — IndieWire Survey

     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. to divide by 5, equates to multiplying a denominator by 5
   • 2006 Mathematics for Dyslexics: Including Dyscalculia 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