Ordinal numbers
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ordinal_number_(linguistics) https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:English_ordinal_numbers https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:English_polynomial_degrees
English has several series of ordinal numbers, representing position in a sequence: a main series of commonly used adjectives, beginning first, second, third; a series of Latinate adjectives, beginning primary, secondary; and a series of Greek prefixes, beginning proto-, deutero-.
The main series is formed regularly from lower cardinal numbers, starting with the single digits, by replacing the last word with the corresponding ordinal (e.g., “twenty-first”, “hundred-twentieth”), or suffixing -th to a single word (e.g., tenth), or -eth for the multiples of ten ending in -y (e.g., twentieth). The Latinate series is formed from Latin numbers, but numbers above tertiary are very rare, and frequently confused with arities, which also end in -ary but are based on Latin distributive numbers, not ordinal numbers. The Greek series is quite technical, and obscure beyond deutero-, which is itself uncommon.
Common | Latinate | Grecian |
first | primary | proto- |
second | secondary | deutero- |
third | tertiary | trito- |
fourth | quartary | tetarto- |
fifth | quintary | pempto- |
sixth | sextary | ecto- |
seventh | septimary | ebdomo- |
eighth | octavary | ogdo- |
ninth | nonary | enato- |
tenth | decimary | decato- |
eleventh | undecimary | endecato- |
twelfth | duodecimary | dodecato- |
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