Fiftyfirst

Fifty-first is the ordinal form of the number 51 in English, used to indicate a position in a sequence. It answers questions such as who comes in the fifty-first place or what is the fifty-first item in a list.

Spelling and hyphenation: In standard English, fifty-first is hyphenated when written as a word. The form combines the cardinal fifty with the irregular ordinal first, yielding fifty-first. When using numerals, the corresponding ordinal is 51st, with the suffix -st (except for the special cases 11th, 12th, and 13th).

Usage: Fifty-first appears in lists, rankings, chapters, and other sequence labels. It can denote order in sports standings, calendar counts (the fifty-first day of a year, for example), or anniversaries (the fifty-first anniversary). It functions as a positional descriptor rather than a cardinal quantity.

Etymology and variation: Fifty derives from Old English fiftig, while first comes from Old English fyrst. The combined form fifty-first reflects standard English practices for ordinals beyond twenty, typically hyphenated when written as a word. There is no widely used alternative spelling for this ordinal.

See also: ordinal numbers, English numerals, cardinal numbers.