Etymology From Middle English tenth, tenthe. Old English had tēoþa (origin of Modern English tithe), but the force of analogy to the cardinal number "ten" caused Middle English speakers to recreate the regular ordinal and re-insert the nasal consonant. Ultimately from Proto-Germanic *tehundô. Equivalent to ten (numeral) + -th (suffix forming ordinals).
1
The ordinal numeral form of ten; next in order after that which is ninth.
My dear young lady, here I am for the tenth time.a. 1776, Joseph Baretti, “Dialogue the Fortieth”, in Easy Phraseology for the Use of Those Persons Who Intend to Learn the Colloquial Part of the Italian Language, 1835 edition, Turin: Joseph Bocca, page 221:
These words are formed by the rusty iron point with which I write with difficulty in scrapings of soot and charcoal from the chimney, mixed with blood, in the last month of the tenth year of my captivity.1859, Charles Dickens, “The Substance of the Shadow”, in A Tale of Two Cities, London: Chapman and Hall, […], →OCLC, book III (The Track of a Storm), page 214:
1 more example
A hunger strike at a South Florida immigration detention center state officials have named “Alligator Alcatraz” has entered its tenth day, as detainees protest what they call inhumane and dangerous living conditions.2025 August 1, Jamie Guirola, “'Alligator Alcatraz' detainees on hunger strike for 10th day, protesting conditions”, in NBC News, archived from the original on 08 Aug 2025:
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Being one of ten equal parts of a whole.
The Ephah and the Bath shal be of one measure, that the Bath may containe the tenth part of an Homer, and the Ephah the tenth part of an Homer: the measure thereof shall be after the Homer.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Ezekiel 45:11:
Etymology From Middle English tenth, tenthe. Old English had tēoþa (origin of Modern English tithe), but the force of analogy to the cardinal number "ten" caused Middle English speakers to recreate the regular ordinal and re-insert the nasal consonant. Ultimately from Proto-Germanic *tehundô. Equivalent to ten (numeral) + -th (suffix forming ordinals).
1
The person or thing coming next after the ninth in a series; that which is in the tenth position.
2
One of ten equal parts of a whole.
Economics is a messy discipline: too fluid to be a science, too rigorous to be an art. Perhaps it is fitting that economists’ most-used metric, gross domestic product (GDP), is a tangle too. GDP measures the total value of output in an economic territory. Its apparent simplicity explains why it is scrutinised down to tenths of a percentage point every month.2013 August 3, “Boundary problems”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8847:
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Entertainment, Lifestyle, Music The interval between any tone and the tone represented on the tenth degree of the staff above it, as between one of the scale and three of the octave above; the octave of the third.
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LawUK, Historical, In plural A temporary aid issuing out of personal property, and granted to the king by Parliament; formerly, the real tenth part of all the movables belonging to the subject.
Etymology From Middle English tenth, tenthe. Old English had tēoþa (origin of Modern English tithe), but the force of analogy to the cardinal number "ten" caused Middle English speakers to recreate the regular ordinal and re-insert the nasal consonant. Ultimately from Proto-Germanic *tehundô. Equivalent to ten (numeral) + -th (suffix forming ordinals).
1
To divide by ten, into tenths.
A regular cistern may be inched or tenthed by the rule given for inching or tenthing the back, copper, or cooler, which inching or tenthing should be entered in a table book for use.1832, The Practical Measurer, Containing the Uses of Logarithms, and Gunter's Scale: