Seventeenth
adjectiveComing after the sixteenth in a sequence; the ordinal form of seventeen.
How to spell seventeenth
11 letters · 3 syllables
How to pronounce seventeenth
Say the part in capitals loudest.
What does seventeenth mean?
- adjectiveComing after the sixteenth in a sequence; the ordinal form of seventeen.
Seventeenth in a sentence
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Her birthday falls on the seventeenth of June.
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They celebrated their seventeenth wedding anniversary with a quiet dinner.
Where does seventeenth come from?
Language of origin: Germanic
This word is built entirely from native Germanic material that English has carried since its Old English roots. The base 'seven' descends from Old English 'seofon', which traces back to the same ancient source that gave Latin 'septem' and Greek 'hepta', all meaning the number seven. The element '-teen' comes from Old English 'tien' or 'ten', literally signalling 'ten more', so seventeen meant 'seven and ten'. The final '-th' is the ordinal ending, the same one that turns 'four' into 'fourth' and 'six' into 'sixth', marking position in a sequence rather than a count. Because the spelling stacks 'seven' plus 'teen' plus 'th' transparently, the only real trap is remembering to keep the full 'teen' before the 'th', writing 'seventeenth' and not the clipped 'seventh'.
How the word is built
- seven (cardinal number)
- -teen (ten)
- -th (ordinal suffix)
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