Etymologically
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eleventh

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Pronunciation

  • UK: /ɪˈlɛv.ənθ/[1]
  • US: /ɪˈlɛv.ənθ/, /iˈlɛv.ənθ/[1]

Etymology

The modern form, first recorded in Middle English as eleventhe in the late 14th century, is formed from English eleven + -th,[2][3][1] on the model of the other ordinals such as fourth.[4] It replaced the inherited forms enlefte (early 13th century) and ellefte (about 1300),[2][5] from Old English endleofta, also endlyfta and ællefta,[2][5][6][7] which goes back to Proto-Germanic *ainaliftô.[1] The Old English word is cognate with Old Frisian andlofta, Old Saxon ellifto, Old High German einlifto and Old Norse ellifti,[3][5][4][7] and with Dutch elfde and German elfte.[4][7] The OED treats the word as partly inherited and partly a new English formation.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Coming next after the tenth: in the Old English Blickling Homilies, in the phrase for the eleventh hour of the parable of the labourers.[3][6]

Semantic evolution

The Old English and Middle English Gospels used the word for the last hour at which labourers were hired in the parable of the workers in the vineyard (Matthew 20),[2][6] and the eleventh hour came to mean the latest possible moment, before it is too late;[3][2] the adjective eleventh-hour is recorded by 1829.[2] The word was used for one of eleven equal parts from 1557, in Recorde's arithmetic,[3] and in music for the interval of an octave and a fourth from 1597, in Morley.[3][5] Johnson (1755) gave only the ordinal sense.[8]

Timeline

  • Old English – endleofta, endlyfta, the eleventh; the eleventh hour, in the Blickling Homilies.[3][6]
  • early 13th century – enlefte.[2]
  • c. 1300 – ellefte; used without a noun, the eleventh one.[2][3]
  • late 14th century – eleventhe, formed from eleven.[2]
  • 1557 – noun, an eleventh part.[3]
  • 1597 – the musical interval of an eleventh.[3]
  • 1829 – eleventh-hour as an adjective.[2]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Coming next after the tenth in a series; the ordinal number of eleven, often written 11th.[9][5][3]
  2. Being one of eleven equal parts of something: an eleventh share of the prize.[5][3]

Noun

  1. The person or thing that is number eleven in a series: They arrived on the eleventh of May.[9][5]
  2. One of eleven equal parts of a whole.[9][5][3]
  3. (music) An interval of an octave and a fourth, or the note at that interval.[5][3]

Word family

  • eleventh hour

Usage notes

At the eleventh hour means at the last possible moment, after the parable in Matthew 20 of the workers hired at the eleventh hour who received a full day's pay.[2][3][1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b c d Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement
  7. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  9. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins