ENGLISH
REFERENCE

fourteenth

num.
A2 Elementary US //ˈfɔɹˈtinθ// UK //fˈɔːtiːnθ// four·teenth

num. the number 14 in a series. You use it to talk about the day after the 13th of the month.

num. constituting number fourteen in a sequence; the ordinal form of the number fourteen.


SIMPLE

Today is the fourteenth of May.

CONTEXTUAL

She finished in fourteenth place out of fifty runners in the cross-country race.

COMPLEX

The fourteenth chapter of the biography provides a detailed account of the subject's early years in London before they achieved international fame.

Origin

Inherited from Middle English fourtenthe, fourtethe, from Old English fēowertēoþa, equivalent to fourteen + -th.

Usage

Often functions as an ordinal number or a fraction (one-fourteenth); when used as a date, it is typically preceded by 'the'.

Pitfall

fourtenthfourteenthLearners often forget to include the 'ee' from 'fourteen' before adding the 'th' suffix.

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