seventh
Pronunciation
- IPA: /ˈsɛvnθ/ (UK); /ˈsɛvənθ/ (US)[1]
Etymology
It is a Middle English formation from seven and -th,[2][3] replacing sevende, seveth, which are inherited from Old English seofoþa, Anglian seofunda,[2][4][3] from Proto-Germanic *sebunþô, from *sebun, seven; compare Old Norse sjaundi, Old High German sibunto and Sanskrit सप्तथ (saptatha, “seventh”).[2]
Earliest recorded meaning
Next after the sixth: about 950 in the OED, counting the Old English forms;[5] the new formation from seven is from about 1300.[2] MWU dates it to the 12th century.[3]
Semantic evolution
As a noun, the one next after the sixth, it is from late Old English, and one of seven equal parts by the 1550s.[2] In music, the interval between a tone and the tone seven degrees above it is a seventh by the 1590s.[2] The seventh heaven, a state of great joy, is from 1818,[5] and the seventh wave, thought to be the largest in a series, from 1891.[5]
Timeline
- c. 950 – Old English seofoþa.[5]
- c. 1300 – seventh, from seven.[2]
- 1550s – a seventh part.[2]
- 1590s – in music.[2]
- 1818 – seventh heaven.[5]
Modern meaning
Adjective
- Coming next after the sixth in order, place or time.
Noun
- One of seven equal parts.
- (music) The interval between a note and the note seven degrees above or below it, or a chord built on it.
Word family
- seventh chord
- seventh heaven
Related words
- seven
- seventeen
- seventy
- septet
References
- ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
- ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press