huitième

Huitième is a French ordinal meaning the eighth in a sequence. It is used to designate the position of an item when listing or counting, for example le huitième jour of the month, le huitième étage of a building, or la huitième page of a document. As an adjective, it agrees with the noun it modifies in gender and number, but its spelling remains huitième in both masculine and feminine singular, and it becomes huitièmes in the plural (les huitièmes).

Etymology and form: huitième is formed from the word huit (eight) with the ordinal suffix -ième. The construction is parallel to other French ordinals such as deuxième (second) or cinquième (fifth). The standard spelling is huitième; there is no separate feminine or masculine form beyond the invariant spelling in feminine usage, and the plural adds -s to become huitièmes.

Grammar and usage notes: Huitième functions primarily as an ordinal adjective, modifying a noun (the eighth something). It is common in everyday language, education, and written texts. In some contexts, huitième can also appear as a noun meaning “an eighth,” especially in mathematical expressions such as un huitième (one eighth). When used as a noun, it can take a plural form as huitièmes to refer to multiple eighths.

Related terms: The word is part of a broader set of ordinal numerals in French, including premier/première (first), deuxième (second), troisième (third), and cinquième (fifth). It contrasts with terms like huitaine, which refers to a group of eight or a period of eight days, rather than a position in a sequence.