tenth
/tɛnθ/adjective, noun, verb
tenth is spelled T-E-N-T-H: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 8.3 times per million words in written English, the 8,036th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, tenth means “The ordinal numeral form of ten; next in order after that which is ninth” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in tenth?
| Letters | 5: T-E-N-T-H |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 8.3 times per million words; the 8,036th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is tenth?
Tenth appears 8.3 times per million words in written English, the 8,036th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce tenth?
- US /tɛnθ/
- US [tʰɛn̪θ]
- /tɪnθ/
Tenth has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-tenth.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of tenth
- tenths plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- tenthing participle, present
- tenthed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does tenth mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
The ordinal numeral form of ten; next in order after that which is ninth.
- 2
Being one of ten equal parts of a whole.
noun
- 1
The person or thing coming next after the ninth in a series; that which is in the tenth position.
- 2
One of ten equal parts of a whole.
- 3
The interval between any tone and the tone represented on the tenth degree of the staff above it, as between one of the scale and three of the octave above; the octave of the third.
- 4
UKA temporary aid issuing out of personal property, and granted to the king by Parliament; formerly, the real tenth part of all the movables belonging to the subject.
- 5
A tenth of a mil; a ten-thousandth of an inch.
verb
- 1
To divide by ten, into tenths.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate tenth?
Wiktionary records one abbreviation of tenth: Xth.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Tenth in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does tenth come from?
From Middle English tenth, tenthe. Old English had tēoþa (origin of Modern English tithe), but the force of analogy to the cardinal number "ten" caused Middle English speakers to recreate the regular ordinal and re-insert the nasal consonant. Ultimately from Proto-Germanic *tehundô. Equivalent to ten (numeral) + -th (suffix forming ordinals).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).