# tenth

/ˈtɛnθ/ (US) · /tˈɛnθ/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/tenth
Updated: 2026-06-20

## Senses

### 1. position in a sequence

numeral · CEFR A2

the person or thing that comes after the ninth.

For teachers: the ordinal number matching the number ten in a series.

- This is the tenth time I have tried to call them today.
- The runner collapsed shortly after crossing the finish line in tenth place, exhausted by the final sprint.

### 2. a fraction

noun · CEFR B1

one of ten equal parts of something.

For teachers: one of ten equal parts into which a whole is or may be divided.

- A millimeter is one tenth of a centimeter.
- The survey revealed that only one tenth of the local population was aware of the proposed changes to the zoning laws.

### 3. musical interval

noun · CEFR C2 · Technical

a musical note that is ten steps away from another note.

For teachers: the interval between a given tone and the tenth degree of the staff above it, equivalent to an octave plus a third.

- The pianist had large hands and could easily reach a tenth.
- The composer frequently employed tenths in the left-hand accompaniment to create a rich, resonant harmonic foundation.

### 4. historical tax

noun · CEFR C2 · Archaic · British English

a tax from a long time ago where people gave ten percent of what they owned to the king.

For teachers: a historical tax or subsidy consisting of one tenth of a subject's movable goods or personal property.

- In the past, the king demanded a tenth of all property to pay for the war.
- The crown relied on the collection of tenths and fifteenths to finance military expeditions during the fourteenth century.

### 5. to divide by ten

verb · CEFR C2 · Technical

to divide something into ten parts.

For teachers: to divide a whole into ten equal portions or to reduce by a factor of ten.

- The scientist had to tenth the solution to get the right concentration.
- The data was tenthed to simplify the visual representation of the massive dataset for the final report.

## Examples

- Today is my daughter's tenth birthday.
- The runner finished in tenth place, just missing out on a medal but still setting a personal record.
- The architect noted that even a tenth of a millimeter of error in the foundation could lead to structural instability as the building rose higher.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.