fifth

• fift (obsolete)

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”).

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

  • Audio (US)

    (file)

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

  • Audio (US, informal)

    (file)

• (UK, US, dialectal) enPR: fĭft, IPA^(key): /fɪft/
• Rhymes: -ɪft

fifth (not comparable)

1. The ordinal form of the number five.

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

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. (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. (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

6. The fifth voice in a polyphonic melody.

• (one of five equal parts): ⅕

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, 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:

     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:

     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, 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