Jump to content

-th

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

See also: Appendix:Variations of "th"

English

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /-θ/

Etymology 1

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.

Suffix

-th

(no longer productive) Used to form nouns from verbs of action.
‎grow + ‎-th → ‎growth

‎heal + ‎-th → ‎health

‎steal + ‎-th → ‎stealth

‎bear + ‎-th → ‎birth
(no longer productive except in informal coinages) Used to form nouns of quality from adjectives.
‎warm + ‎-th → ‎warmth

‎long + ‎-th → ‎length

‎wide + ‎-th → ‎width

‎deep + ‎-th → ‎depth

‎strong + ‎-th → ‎strength

Alternative forms

-t

Synonyms

(formed from verbs): -ing, -ation
(formed from adjectives): -ness, -ity, -cy, -itude

Derived terms

Etymology 2

From Middle English -the, -th, -te, -t (ordinal suffix), from Old English -þa, -þe, -oþa, -oþe, derived from a Proto-Indo-European superlative suffix. This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.

Suffix

-th

Used to form the ordinal numeral when the final term of the spelled number is not “first”, “second”, or “third”.
the 4th/Fourth of July
1. (mathematics) Used to form a term denoting the ordinal numeral corresponding to the value, being a natural number, of a mathematical expression.
  The $n$ th term of a geometrical progression whose first term is $a$ and common ratio is $r$ is given by $ar^{n-1}$ .
Used to form the denominator of a fraction.
one seventh; three tenths

Usage notes

Some numbers undergo a change in spelling: ‎five + ‎-th → ‎fifth, ‎eight + ‎-th → ‎eighth, ‎nine + ‎-th → ‎ninth, ‎twenty + ‎-th → ‎twentieth. See -eth
Use of this suffix with numbers ending in one, two, or three is occasionally heard in speech, particularly in forming fractions (**thirty-twoth) but is considered highly nonstandard.
In older texts, this suffix, and the other suffixes for forming ordinals, may be seen written as superscripts: 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd, 4^th, 5^th. This is considered old-fashioned; the current preference is to write (when not spelling the numbers), 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th.
When used to suffix a mathematical expression, a hyphen is sometimes inserted: $n$ -th term.

Coordinate terms

Derived terms

English terms suffixed with -th (ordinal)

eighty-secondth

hundred-millionth

hundred-thousandth

ninety-secondth

one-hundred-millionth

one-hundred-thousandth

seventy-secondth

seventy-seventh

thirty-secondth

twenty-secondth

Translations

used to form the ordinal numeral

Arabic: (no specific suffixes are used)
Armenian: -րդ (hy) (-rd), -երորդ (-erord)
Azerbaijani: -inci, -nci, -ıncı, -üncü, -uncu
Breton: -vet (br)
Catalan: -è (ca), -èsim
Chinese:
Cantonese: 第…… (dai⁶...)

Dungan: ди ... (di ...)

Hakka: 第…… (thi...)

Hokkien: 第…… (tē...)

Mandarin: 第…… (zh) (dì...)

Wu: 第……
Dhivehi: ވަނަ (vana)
Esperanto: -a (eo)
Finnish: -s (fi)
French: -ième (fr)
Galician: -ésimo m
German: -te (for: 0, 1, 2, ..., 19), -ste (for: 20, 21, 22, ..., 99, 100, 1000)
Greek:
Ancient Greek: -τος (-tos)
Hebrew: ־י (-i)
Hindi: -वां (-vā̃)
Ido: -esma
Indonesian: ke- (id)
Irish: -ú
Old Irish: -mad
Italian: -esimo (it), -to (4, 5, 6), -imo (7, 10)
Japanese: 第... (ja) (だい..., dai...), ...目 (ja) (...め, ...me), ...番目 (ja) (...ばんめ, ...banme)
Khmer: ទី- (km) (tii-)
Korean: -째 (ko) (-jjae), 제- (ko) (je-), ~ 번째 (ko) (~ beonjjae)
Kurdish:
Northern Kurdish: -em (ku), -emîn (ku), -an (ku), -a (ku), -ê (ku)
Kyrgyz: -ынчы (-ıncı), -инчи (-inci), -унчу (-uncu), -үнчү (-üncü), -нчы (-ncı), -нчи (-nci), -нчу (-ncu), -нчү (-ncü)
Lao: ທີ່- (thī)
Latin: -ēsimus, -ēnsimus
Malay:
Jawi: ک-

Rumi: ke- (ms)
Malayalam: -ആം (-āṁ), -ആമത്തെ (-āmatte)
Marathi: -वा (-vā)
Middle English: -the
Occitan: -en
Old Church Slavonic: -ъ (-ŭ), -ьнъ (-ĭnŭ)
Persian: ـم (-om)
Polish: -y (pl) m, -ty m
Portuguese: -ésimo (productive; 20, 30, 40, …, 100, 1000, 1000000, …), -eiro (pt) (1, 3, 11, 13, 21, 23, 31, 33, …), -to (4, 5, 6, 14, 15, 16, …), -avo (8, 18, 28, …), -imo (7, 10, 11, 20, 30, 40, …)
Russian: (various endings exist) -ый (ru) (-yj), -о́й (ru) m (-ój), -ий (ru) m (-ij)
Southern Altai: -нчы (-nčï) ,-нчи (-nči), -ынчы (-ïnčï), -инчи (-inči), -унчы (-unčï), -ӱнчи (-ünči)
Spanish: -ero (es) (1, 3, 11, 13, 21, 23, 31, 33, ...), -to (es) (4, 5, 6, 14, 15, 16, 24, 25, 26, ...), -avo (es) (8, 18, 28, ...), -imo (7, 10, 11, 12), -ésimo (es) (20, 30, 40, 50, ... 100, ...)
Sundanese: ka-
Swedish: -te (sv), -de (sv)
Tagalog: ika- (tl)
Tajik: -ум (-um)
Thai: ที่- (th) (tîi-)
Tigrinya: -ይ (-yə) (from 1 to 10), መበል - (mäbäl -) (from 11)
Turkish: -inci, -nci (tr), -ıncı, -ncı (tr), -üncü, -uncu
Vietnamese: thứ ... (vi)
Welsh: -fed, -ed, -ydd (cy), -edd
Zazaki: -nki, -n

Etymology 3

From Middle English -eth, -th, from Old English -eþ, -aþ, -þ.

Suffix

-th

(archaic) A variant of -eth, used to form the archaic third-person singular indicative present tense of verbs.
come → cometh

have → hath

do → doth

say → saith

Anagrams

HT, h/t, ht

Albanian

Etymology

Derived from Proto-Albanian *-ts, from Proto-Indo-European *-ḱos.

Suffix

-th m

Used to form the diminutive.

Derived terms

Middle English

Etymology 1

Originally two distinct suffixes:

Old English -þ, from Proto-West Germanic *-þu, from Proto-Germanic *-þuz, from Proto-Indo-European *-tus.
Old English -þ, from Proto-West Germanic *-þi, from Proto-Germanic *-þiz, from Proto-Indo-European *-tis.

Alternative forms

-d, -þ, -þe
-t, -te (following fricatives)

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /-θ/, /-d/, /-t/

Suffix

-th

(no longer productive) Forms abstract nouns denoting a state or attribute, usually from adjectives but occasionally from verbs; -th, -ness

Derived terms

Middle English terms suffixed with -th

Descendants

English: -th, -t (conflated with -the < *-iþō)
Scots: -th, -t (conflated with -the < *-iþō)

References

“-th(e, suf.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Etymology 2

Suffix

-th

alternative form of -the (abstract nominal suffix)

Etymology 3

Suffix

-th

alternative form of -the (ordinal suffix)

Mohawk

Suffix

-th

forms instrumentals

References

Nora Deering; Helga H. Delisle (1976), Mohawk: A teaching grammar (preliminary version), Quebec: Manitou College, page 417

Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=-th&oldid=87548217"

Hidden categories: