-th
suffix ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 Used to form nouns from verbs of action. idiomatic, morpheme
"grow + -th → growth"
- 2 Used to form the ordinal numeral when the final term of the spelled number is not “first”, “second”, or “third”. morpheme
"the 4th/Fourth of July"
- 3 A variant of -eth, used to form the archaic third-person singular indicative present tense of verbs. archaic, morpheme
"come → cometh"
- 4 Used to form nouns of quality from adjectives. morpheme
"warm + -th → warmth"
- 5 Used to form the ordinal numeral when the final term of the spelled number is not “first”, “second”, or “third”.; Used to form a term denoting the ordinal numeral corresponding to the value, being a natural number, of a mathematical expression. morpheme
"The nth term of a geometrical progression whose first term is a and common ratio is r is given by ar#123;n-1#125;."
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- 6 Used to form the denominator of a fraction. morpheme
"one seventh; three tenths"
Example
More examples"Washington’s first outpost of the California-born burger joint opened Wednesday after long anticipation and a few fake-outs (like the prank sign someone posted in Wallingford in June). Problem is, it’s located in Ridgefield, a suburb of Vancouver, Washington. […] Ridgefield is the 424th location."
Etymology
From Middle English -the, -th, -te, -t (abstract nominal suffix), from Old English -þ, -t, -þu, -tu, -þo, -to (“-th”, abstract nominal suffix), from Proto-Germanic *-iþō, from Proto-Indo-European *-iteh₂. Cognate with Scots -th, West Frisian -te, Dutch -te, Low German -de, Danish -de, Swedish -d, Icelandic -ð, -d, Gothic -𐌹𐌸𐌰 (-iþa), Latin -itās (“-ty, -ity”). See -ity, -t.
From Middle English -the, -th, -te, -t (ordinal suffix), from Old English -þa, -þe, -oþa, -oþe, derived from a Proto-Indo-European superlative suffix.
From Middle English -eth, -th, from Old English -eþ, -aþ, -þ.
More for "-th"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.