-th

• IPA^(key): /-θ/

From Middle English -the, -th, -te, -t (abstract nominal suffix), from Old English -þ, -t, -þu, -tu, -þo, -to (“-th”, abstract nominal suffix), from Proto-Germanic *-iþō, from Proto-Indo-European *-iteh₂. Cognate with Scots -th, West Frisian -te, Dutch -te, Low German -de, Danish -de, Swedish -d, Icelandic -ð, -d, Gothic -𐌹𐌸𐌰 (-iþa), Latin -itās (“-ty, -ity”). See -ity, -t.

-th

1. (no longer productive) Used to form nouns from verbs of action.

   ‎grow + ‎-th → ‎growth

   ‎heal + ‎-th → ‎health

   ‎steal + ‎-th → ‎stealth

   ‎bear + ‎-th → ‎birth

2. (no longer productive except in informal coinages) Used to form nouns of quality from adjectives.

   ‎warm + ‎-th → ‎warmth

   ‎long + ‎-th → ‎length

   ‎wide + ‎-th → ‎width

   ‎deep + ‎-th → ‎depth

   ‎strong + ‎-th → ‎strength

• -t

• (formed from verbs): -ing, -ation
• (formed from adjectives): -ness, -ity, -cy, -itude

From Middle English -the, -th, -te, -t (ordinal suffix), from Old English -þa, -þe, -oþa, -oþe, derived from a Proto-Indo-European superlative suffix. This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.

-th

2. Used to form the ordinal numeral when the final term of the spelled number is not “first”, “second”, or “third”.

   the 4th/Fourth of July

   • 2025 August 21, Allison Williams, “I Braved Washington’s First In-N-Out Burger Line”, in Seattle Met‎^[1], archived from the original on 28 August 2025:

     Washington’s first outpost of the California-born burger joint opened Wednesday after long anticipation and a few fake-outs (like the prank sign someone posted in Wallingford in June). Problem is, it’s located in Ridgefield, a suburb of Vancouver, Washington. […] Ridgefield is the 424th location.

   1. (mathematics) Used to form a term denoting the ordinal numeral corresponding to the value, being a natural number, of a mathematical expression.

      The ${\displaystyle n}$th term of a geometrical progression whose first term is ${\displaystyle a}$ and common ratio is ${\displaystyle r}$ is given by ${\displaystyle ar^{n-1}}$.

4. Used to form the denominator of a fraction.

   one seventh; three tenths

• Some numbers undergo a change in spelling: ‎five + ‎-th → ‎fifth, ‎eight + ‎-th → ‎eighth, ‎nine + ‎-th → ‎ninth, ‎twenty + ‎-th → ‎twentieth. See -eth
• Use of this suffix with numbers ending in one, two, or three is occasionally heard in speech, particularly in forming fractions (**thirty-twoth) but is considered highly nonstandard.
• In older texts, this suffix, and the other suffixes for forming ordinals, may be seen written as superscripts: 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd, 4^th, 5^th. This is considered old-fashioned; the current preference is to write (when not spelling the numbers), 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th.
• When used to suffix a mathematical expression, a hyphen is sometimes inserted: ${\displaystyle n}$-th term.

• -nd
• -rd
• -st

From Middle English -eth, -th, from Old English -eþ, -aþ, -þ.

-th

2. (archaic) A variant of -eth, used to form the archaic third-person singular indicative present tense of verbs.

   come → cometh

   have → hath

   do → doth

   say → saith

• HT, h/t, ht

Derived from Proto-Albanian *-ts, from Proto-Indo-European *-ḱos.

-th m

1. Used to form the diminutive.

From theth (“skin”), from Proto-Athabaskan.

• IPA^(key): /θ/

-th

1. skin; combining form of theth.

• dheth (“skin, bag”)

• Kari, James et al. (2024), Kari, James, editor, Lower Tanana Dene Dictionary, Fairbanks, Alaska: Alaska Native Language Center, →ISBN, page 454

Originally two distinct suffixes:

• Old English -þ, from Proto-West Germanic *-þu, from Proto-Germanic *-þuz, from Proto-Indo-European *-tus.
• Old English -þ, from Proto-West Germanic *-þi, from Proto-Germanic *-þiz, from Proto-Indo-European *-tis.

• -d, -þ, -þe
• -t, -te (following fricatives)

• IPA^(key): /-θ/, /-d/, /-t/

-th

1. (no longer productive) Forms abstract nouns denoting a state or attribute, usually from adjectives but occasionally from verbs; -th, -ness

• English: -th, -t (conflated with -the < *-iþō)
• Scots: -th, -t (conflated with -the < *-iþō)

• “-th(e, suf.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

-th

1. alternative form of -the (abstract nominal suffix)

-th

1. alternative form of -the (ordinal suffix)

-th

1. forms instrumentals

• Nora Deering; Helga H. Delisle (1976), Mohawk: A teaching grammar (preliminary version), Quebec: Manitou College, page 417