Word
seventeenth
Phoneticssev·en·teenth
US/ˈsɛvənˈtinθ/
UK/sˈɛvəntˌiːnθ/
Definitions
01position in a sequence
num. coming after the sixteenth and before the eighteenth.
num. the ordinal number matching the cardinal number seventeen, indicating a position in a sequence.
“She is celebrating her seventeenth birthday with a party this weekend.”
“The seventeenth century was a period of significant scientific advancement and political upheaval across the European continent.”
Pitfall
It is my seventeen birthday.
It is my seventeenth birthday.
Use the ordinal form 'seventeenth' for dates and positions, not the cardinal number 'seventeen'.
Synonyms
02a fractional part
n. one of seventeen equal parts of a whole.
n. one of seventeen equal parts into which a whole is or may be divided.
“Each person received one seventeenth of the total prize money.”
“The mathematician calculated that a seventeenth of the total volume would be lost to evaporation during the heating process.”
03musical interval
n. a very wide musical gap between two notes.
n. a musical interval spanning two octaves and a third.
“The singer struggled to reach the high note at the end of the seventeenth.”
“The composer utilised a seventeenth to create a sense of vast harmonic space between the bass line and the melody.”
Technical
Usage
Usually refers to the interval of a compound third.
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English sevententhe, seventethe, from Old English seofontēoþa, equivalent to seventeen + -th.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Domain
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/seventeenth