cinquième

Cinquième is the French ordinal numeral meaning “fifth.” It is used to indicate position in a sequence, such as the fifth item, person, or moment. In written French, it typically precedes the noun it modifies, for example cinquième étage (fifth floor) or cinquième page (fifth page). As a noun, it can also denote one fifth of a whole, as in un cinquième.

Etymology and form: Cinquième comes from the numeral cinq (five) with the ordinal suffix -ième, following the pattern of other French ordinals. The spelling cinquième reflects historical phonology in the language. The form is identical for masculine and feminine singular (cinquième) and becomes cinquièmes in the plural, for all genders.

Usage in education and mathematics: In the French education system, cinquième refers to the fifth year of the collège, roughly corresponding to the age of eleven to twelve. In mathematics and everyday language, un cinquième denotes one fifth of a quantity (a fraction), and on a scale or in a partition it marks the fifth portion.

Other uses: Cinquième is widely employed to name items in ordered series, such as the cinquième symphonie, the fifth symphony, or the fifth chapter, element, or position in a list. It also appears in musical contexts to describe the interval or degree a fifth above a reference note, though other terms like quinte are common for the musical interval itself.

See also: ordinal numbers in French, fractions in French, French education levels, musical terminology.