English Reference

Word

seventh

Phoneticssev·enth

US/ˈsɛvənθ/

UK/sˈɛvənθ/

Definitions

01position in a sequence

A2

num. coming after the sixth and before the eighth.

num. the ordinal number matching the cardinal number seven, indicating a position in a series.

“It was her seventh birthday, so she got seven small presents.”

“The runner collapsed just before reaching the seventh lap, exhausted by the humid conditions and the aggressive pace set by the leaders.”

02a fraction

B1 · Math

n. one of seven equal parts of something.

n. one of seven equal parts into which a whole is divided.

“He ate a seventh of the cake before the guests even arrived.”

“The inheritance was divided strictly, with each sibling receiving exactly one seventh of the total estate value.”

03musical interval

B2 · Music

n. the seventh note in a scale, or the distance between the first and seventh notes.

n. the seventh degree of a diatonic scale, or the interval between the tonic and this degree.

“The song ends on a major seventh, which gives it a dreamy sound.”

“The composer used a diminished seventh to create a sense of unresolved tension before the final movement.”

Technical

Real-World Examples

“Quinoa came fourth; gnocchi came fifth; chipotle was seventh.”
The Guardian · 19 Aug 2026
“Jack Cassin's seventh place in the men's 200-metres butterfly heats sees him through to the semis this evening.”
BreakingNews.ie · 14 Aug 2026

Etymology

From Middle English seventhe, sefte, from Old English seofoþa, from Proto-West Germanic sebundō, from Proto-Germanic sebundô. The -n-, lost in northern Proto-West Germanic, was later reinserted by analogy with seven, equivalent to seven + -th.

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Collocations

seventh gold

Domain

Music

This entry

Level
B2 · Upper Intermediate
Frequency
Common
Updated

Scan code

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English Reference