fifth

adjective

next after the fourth; being the ordinal number for five.

being one of five equal parts.

Automotive. of, pertaining to, or operating at the gear transmission ratio at which the drive shaft speed is greater than that of fourth gear for a given engine crankshaft speed: fifth gear.

adverb

in the fifth place; fifthly.

noun

a fifth part, especially of one ( ¹ / ₅ ).

the fifth member of a series.

a fifth part of a gallon of liquor or spirits; ⁴ / ₅ of a quart (about 750 milliliters).

Automotive. fifth gear.

Music.

a tone on the fifth degree from another tone (counted as the first).

the interval between such tones.

the harmonic combination of such tones.

Relevant Questions

Who Wrote The Fifth Amen...

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Fifth is always a great word to know.

So is interrobang. Does it mean:

a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question.

a screen or mat covered with a dark material for shielding a camera lens from excess light or glare.

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Idioms

10.

take the Fifth, Informal. to decline on the basis of the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. constitution to answer a question when testifying.

Origin:
before 1000; earlier fift, Middle English fifte, Old English fīfta; -th by analogy with fourth, etc.

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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To fifth

Collins

World English Dictionary

fifth (fɪfθ)

—*adj*
1.	a. coming after the fourth in order, position, time, etc. Often written: 5th
	b. (as noun): he came on the fifth

—n
2.	a. one of five equal or nearly equal parts of an object, quantity, measurement, etc
	b. (as modifier): a fifth part
3.	the fraction equal to one divided by five (1/5)
4.	music
	a. the interval between one note and another five notes away from it counting inclusively along the diatonic scale
	b. perfect diminished See also interval one of two notes constituting such an interval in relation to the other
5.	an additional high gear fitted to some motor vehicles

—*adv*
6.	Also: fifthly after the fourth person, position, event, etc

—*sentence connector*
7.	Also: fifthly as the fifth point: linking what follows with the previous statements, as in a speech or argument

[Old English fīfta]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

fifth

M.E. fift, from O.E. fifta, from fif "five." Altered 14c. by infl. of fourth. Meaning "fifth part of a gallon of liquor" is first recorded 1938, Amer.Eng. Fifth Avenue (in New York City) has been used figuratively for "elegance, taste" since at least 1858. Fifth column is 1936, from Gen. Emilio Mola's

comment during the siege of Madrid during the Spanish Civil War, that he would take the city with his "fifth column" (quinta columna) in the city as well as his four columns of troops outside it. Fifth wheel "superfluous person or thing" first attested 1631.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage

Medical Dictionary

fifth (fĭfth)
adj.

Coming after fourth, as in order, rank, or time.
Being the outermost digit, as on a hand.

fifth n.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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FOLDOC

Computing Dictionary

Fifth definition

An enhanced version of FORTH. M.S. Dissertation, Cliff Click cliff@cs.rice.edu, Texas A&M, 1985. Available from the Software Construction Co, (409)696-5432.

American Heritage

Idioms & Phrases

fifth

In addition to the idioms beginning with fifth, also see take the fifth.