-th

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

1. (no longer productive) Used to form nouns from verbs of action.

   ‎grow + ‎-th → ‎growth

   ‎heal + ‎-th → ‎health

   ‎steal + ‎-th → ‎stealth

   ‎bear + ‎-th → ‎birth

2. (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

English terms suffixed with -th (abstract nominal)

berth

birth

blowth

blueth

breadth

broth

calmth

chillth

cleanth

coolth

dampth

darkth

dealth

dearth

depth

drawth

dryth

edgrowth

feelth

filth

fouth

fulth

gloomth

greenth

growth

health

heighth

illth

length

lewth

lowth

math

mirth

newth

roomth

ruth

sidth

sloth

slowth

spilth

stealth

stillth

strength

tilth

troth

truth

warmth

wealth

wholth

width

wrath

wrength

youngth

youth

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

2. 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

   • 2025 August 21, Allison Williams, “I Braved Washington’s First In-N-Out Burger Line”, in Seattle Met‎, archived from the original on 28 August 2025:

     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.

   1. (mathematics) Used to form a term denoting the ordinal numeral corresponding to the value, being a natural number, of a mathematical expression.

      The ${\displaystyle n}$th term of a geometrical progression whose first term is ${\displaystyle a}$ and common ratio is ${\displaystyle r}$ is given by ${\displaystyle ar^{n-1}}$.

4. 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: ${\displaystyle n}$-th term.

Coordinate terms

• -nd
• -rd
• -st

Derived terms

English terms suffixed with -th (ordinal)

bajillionth

billiardth

billionth

centillionth

croreth

decillionth

dozenth

duodecillionth

eighteenth

eighth

eighty-eighth

eighty-fifth

eighty-fourth

eighty-ninth

eighty-oneth

eighty-secondth

eighty-seventh

eighty-sixth

eleventeenth

eleventh

fifteenth

fifth

fifty-eighth

fifty-fifth

fifty-fourth

fifty-ninth

fifty-oneth

fifty-secondth

fifty-seventh

fifty-sixth

forty-eighth

forty-fifth

forty-fourth

forty-ninth

forty-oneth

forty-secondth

forty-seventh

forty-sixth

fourteenth

fourth

gazillionth

godzillionth

googolplexth

googolth

how manyth

hundred-millionth

hundredth

hundred-thousandth

IIIIth

ith

IVth

jillionth

jth

kajillionth

kazillionth

kth

lakhth

lth

milliardth

millionth

mth

myriadth

nineteenth

ninety-eighth

ninety-fifth

ninety-fourth

ninety-ninth

ninety-oneth

ninety-secondth

ninety-seventh

ninety-sixth

ninth

nonillionth

nothingth

noughth

nth

octillionth

omegath

one-hundred-millionth

one-hundred-thousandth

oneth

onety-oneth

pith

quadrillionth

quintillionth

secondth

septillionth

seventeenth

seventh

seventy-eighth

seventy-fifth

seventy-fourth

seventy-ninth

seventy-oneth

seventy-secondth

seventy-seventh

seventy-sixth

severalth

sextillionth

sixteenth

sixth

sixty-eighth

sixty-fifth

sixty-fourth

sixty-ninth

sixty-oneth

sixty-secondth

sixty-seventh

sixty-sixth

somethingth

squillionth

ten-millionth

tenth

thirteenth

thirty-eighth

thirty-fifth

thirty-fourth

thirty-ninth

thirty-oneth

thirty-secondth

thirty-seventh

thirty-sixth

thousandth

threeth

trillionth

twelfth

twelveteenth

twenty-eighth

twenty-fifth

twenty-fourth

twenty-ninth

twenty-oneth

twenty-secondth

twenty-seventh

twenty-sixth

two-hundredth

twoth

umpteenth

umpty-umpth

undecillionth

vigintillionth

Vth

whatth

whichth

XCIXth

XIIIth

XIVth

XVIIIth

XXVIIth

zeroth

zillionth

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

2. (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

1. Used to form the diminutive.

Derived terms

Albanian terms suffixed with -th

cakthi

capth

cath

cekth

cëngthi

cingëlthi

cingth

cjapthi

cmakth

cputh

cungth

cupth

djalth

drokth

druth

dhith

elbth

fikth

fjalorth

gakth

greth

guraçokthi

gjedhë

hithëth

kapth

lakth

lukth

majth

mikth

mjerth

purth

sjapth

sqapth

syth

shtegth

ujkth

ujth

vath

veth

vithe

xunkth

zdrukth

zgjumth

zogth

zokth

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

1. (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

berde

blast

clift

draught

fulloght

moneth

on hunteth

schaft

thild

wefte

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

1. alternative form of -the (abstract nominal suffix)

Etymology 3

Suffix

-th

1. alternative form of -the (ordinal suffix)

Mohawk

Suffix

-th

1. forms instrumentals

References

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