sixth English · revision 5604

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=before 900}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /sɪksθ/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English sixte, [[inh|ang|sixta|alt=siexta, syxte]], from [[m|ang|siex|t=six]],^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) with the ending later changed to match [[-th]].^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) Old Frisian sexta, Old High German sehsto and Gothic saihsta are related.^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) See [[six]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The ordinal of six: before 900 in the OED.^(OED 1989) The Middle English form sixte is from about 1200, and the form in -th from the late 14th century; it replaced sixte by the 16th century.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ After the names of kings and popes, as in ''Henry the Sixth'', it is from 1387.^(OED 1989) The noun, a sixth part, is from 1557,^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) and in music, an interval of six degrees, from 1597.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) ''Sixth form'', the top classes of a British secondary school, follows the elliptical use from 1573.^(OED 1989) The ''sixth sense'', a supposed faculty of perception beyond the five senses, is from 1712; earlier, in the 1690s, it was the sense of sexual pleasure, after Scaliger.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 900 – the ordinal number.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1387 – after kings' names.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1557 – a sixth part.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1597 – in music.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1712 – ''sixth sense''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Coming next after the fifth in order; 6th.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # One of six equal parts of something.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(music)'' An [[interval]] of six notes in a scale.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[sixthly]]

+ * [[sixth column]]

+ * [[sixth man]]

+ * [[sixth sense]]

+ * [[augmented sixth]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[six]]

+ * [[sixteen]]

+ * [[sixty]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}