a. and sb. Forms: 1 fífta, (fem. & neut. fífte), 2–7 fift(e, (3 fiȝft, 4 fyfft), 3–4 south. vifte, 3–6 fyfte, -the, [3 fivet. 5 fyvet), 4–5 fyve(þe, -th(e, (4–5 fifþe, -the), 5–7 fith(e, 6– fifth [OE. fífta = OFris. fîfta, OS. fîfto (Du. vijfde), OHG. fimfto, finfto MHG. vunfte, vünfte, mod. Ger. fünfte), ON. fimte (Sw. and Da. femte), Goth. *fimfta:—OTeut. *fimfton-, f. pre-Teut. *penqto- (Gr. πεμπτός, Lat. quin(c)tus), f. *penqe FIVE. The normal form fift still survives in dialects; the standard form, which first appears in the 14th c., is due to the analogy of fourth.] The ordinal numeral belonging to the cardinal five.
A. adj. 1. In concord with sb. expressed.
c. 1000. Ælfric, Lev. xix 25. Ær þam fiftan ȝeare.
c. 1000. Sax. Leechd., II. 298. Fifte mæȝen is.
c. 1175. Lamb. Hom., 103. Þeo fifte sunne is Tristicia.
a. 1225. Ancr. R., 198. Þe vifte hweolp hette Inobedience.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 9232 (Cott.).
| To recken forth þat leuedi kin, | |
| Þe fift eild wil we be-gin. |
1340. Ayenb., 12. Þe vifte article zuo is þet [etc.].
c. 1380. Wyclif, Sel. Wks., III. 444. Þe fyfft heresie, contened of þe fyfft askynge, says, þat prestis have powere to assoyle men of synne, whom ever þe pope lymytes, at hys owne wille.
c. 1400. Destr. Troy, 7553, heading. Of the Fyuet Batell in the Felde.
1486. Bk. St. Albans, E j b. The fithe yere a grete stagge.
1526. Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W., 1531), 307 b. By the vertue of the fyfth worde that thou spake for great mystery.
1632. Sanderson, Serm., 447. The fift Position. As Sobriety: so Charity also may, and ought to restraine vs in the outward exercise of our Christian liberty.
1700. Dryden, Pal. & Arc., III. 168.
| With smiling aspect you serenely move | |
| In your fifth orb, and rule the realm of love. |
1781. Cowper, Hope, 413.
| Sir Smug, he cries, (for lowest at the board, | |
| Just made fifth chaplain of his patron lord, | |
| His shoulders witnessing by many a shrug | |
| How much his feelings suffered, sat Sir Smug,) | |
| Your office is to winnow false from true; | |
| Come, prophet, drink, and tell us, What think you? |
1857. Hughes, Tom Brown, I. viii. The fifth form would fag us, and I and some more struck and we beat ’em. The good fellows left off directly, and the bullies who kept on soon got afraid.
1884. Syd. Soc. Lex., Fifth ventricle [of the brain], the cavity which lies between the two layers of the septum lucidum.
b. To smite, † stab in, under the fifth rib: to strike to the heart. lit. and fig.
The Revised Version (agreeing with the older Eng. versions) has ‘in the belly’; the translators of 1611 regarded ḥōmesh as the same word as ḥōmesh fifth part; the two are from different roots, as the other Semitic langs. show.
1611. Bible, 2 Sam. ii. 23. Howbeit he refused to turne aside: wherefore Abner with the hinder ende of the speare smote him vnder the fift ribbe, that the speare came out behinde him, and hee fell downe there, and died in the same place.
1641. W. Hooke, New Eng. Teares, 11. Death sends a message to those from the mouth of the Muskets, these it talkes with face to face, and stabs them in the fift rib.
1822. Shelley, Chas. I., I. 104. Second Citizen. Smiting each Bishop under the fifth rib.
c. The fifth wheel of a coach, waggon, etc.: proverbially used for something superfluous.
1891. Law Times, XCI. 205/2. The functions of the grand juror are too often those of the fifth wheel in the coach.
2. With ellipsis of sb.
O. E. Chron., an. 827. Fifta was Eadwine Norþan hymbra cyning.
c. 1175. Lamb. Hom., 39. Fifte is þet þu scalt forȝeuen þon monne þe wið þe agultet.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 23235 (Gött.).
| Of helle pines … | |
| Þe fiȝft es vndemes of dint, | |
| Þat þa wreches þar sal hint. |
1584. R. Scot, Discov. Witchcr., I. viii. 13. Statutes made in the fift of Elizabeth.
1678. B. R., Let. Pop. Friends, 8. That cursed, unfortunate Fifth of November.
1725. Pope, Odyss., IX. 394.
| Just as I wish’d, the lots were cast on four: | |
| Myself the fifth. We stand and wait the hour. |
1818. Shelley, Rev. Islam, X. ix. 4.
| Let none survive | |
| But those within the walls—each fifth shall give | |
| The expiation for his brethren here. |
3. Fifth part: one of five equal parts into which a quantity may be divided.
1480. Caxton, Chron. Eng., ccxxv. 230. The kyng axed the fifthe part of all the meoble goodes of Englond and the wulles and the ix. shefe of euery corne.
1565–73. Cooper, Thesaurus, Cochlearium … two fift partes.
a. 1687. Petty, Pol. Arith. (1690), 73. The same Lands will produce a fifth part more of Food.
4. quasi-adv. In the fifth place, FIFTHLY.
1526. Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W., 1531), 292. Fyfth, they be mortifyed from the inordynate affeccyon of parentes.
B. sb. 1. = Fifth part. See A. 3. Also, a fifth part of moveable goods granted to the king.
1557. Recorde, Whetst., B ij b. Sesquiquinta. 6 to 5:12 to 10:18 to 15. (11/5) a fifte more.
1578. T. Nicholas, trans. Conq. W. India (1596), 6. To keepe the accompts of the Kings fiftes and reuenewes.
1674. Jeake, A Compleat Body of Arithmetick (1696), 209. As to set down 3 Fourths, and 4 Fifths, thus 0,00034.
1724. Swift, Drapier’s Lett., v. (1725), 147. When the Publick shall have lost Five Hundred Thousand, if there be so much in the Nation; besides Four Fifths of its Annual Income for ever.
1777. W. Robertson, Hist. Amer. (1783), III. 370. The spoil of Cuzco, after setting apart the king’s fifth, was divided among 480 persons.
2. Mus. a. The interval of three tones and a semitone, embracing five diatonic degrees of the scale. Also in augmented, diminished, perfect fifth, for which see those words.
1597. Morley, Introd. Mus., 70. A third, a Fift, a Sixt.
1652. News fr. Lowe-Countr., 8. He … Knows Thirds, Fifths, Eights, Rests, Moods, and Time.
1737. Ozell, Rabelais, V. 80. La Quinte … a Fifth, or the Proportion of Five in Musick.
1825. Danneley, Encycl. Music, Fifth, a note in music, of which there are three species, viz. the perfect fifth, called also dominant, the diminished and augmented.
1864. Mrs. Gatty, Parables fr. Nature, Ser. IV. 131. All the fifths were either too flat or too sharp.
b. The concord of two tones separated by this interval.
1656. trans. Hobbes’ Elem. Philos., IV. xxix. 372. At every third time the Organ [of hearing] will be striken by the Vibration of both the strings together, and make that Concord which is called a Fifth.
1674. [see CONCORD sb. 5].
3. pl. Articles of the fifth degree in quality; fifth-rate material.
1881. Daily News, 7 Sept., 3/4. Butter … thirds, 106s.: fourths, 99s.; fifths, 78s.
1893. Westm. Gaz., 5 June, 63. Formerly only as low a quality as good fifths were imported.
C. Comb. fifth-chain (see quot.); fifth-essence = QUINTESSENCE; fifth-penny = fifth part; fifth-wheel (see quot.).
1874. Knight, Dict. Mech., I. 839/2. *Fifth-chain. The chain by which the single lead horse in a team of five is hitched to the end of the tongue.
1585. Jas. I, Ess. Poesie (Arb.), 35. Poure out, my frends, there your *fift-essence fyne.
1732. Swift, Prop. Pay Nat. Debt, Wks. (1841), II. 123. The lands of the primacy … are let so low that they hardly pay a *fifth penny of the real value.
1809. Bawdwen, Domesday Bk., 416. Torksey and Hardwick paid the fifth-penny of the tax of the city of Lincoln.
1874. Knight, Dict. Mech., I. 839/2. *Fifth-wheel. A wheel or segment above the fore-axle of a carriage and beneath the bed. The king-bolt is the center of oscillation, and the fifth-wheel forms an extended support to prevent the careening of the carriage bed.
b. When prefixed to certain sbs., as form, rate, etc., fifth forms a combination, which is used attributively, passing occas. into an adj., and through the absolute use into a sb.
1666. Lond. Gaz., No. 38/4. A Fifth Rate Fregat called the Sweepstakes.
1672. Lacy, Dumb Lady, Prol. My less than fifth rate wit.
1689. Lond. Gaz., No. 2451/4. Admiral Herbert had with him … 10 fourth Rates, 1 fifth Rate, and 2 Tenders.
1747. J. Lind, Lett. Navy, i. (1757), 22. Captains of a fifth [rate] or 40 guns [are allowed per Diem] 0l 8s. 0d. 10 [servants].
1857. Hughes, Tom Brown, I. ix. For most of the sixth spent their evenings in the fifth-form room.
Hence Fifthly adv., in the fifth place.
1526. Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W., 1531), 8 b. Fyfthly, they must depyse ye deuyll with all his pompes.
1681. H. More, Exp. Dan., App. iii. 297. Fifthly, If it be demanded why, etc.
1681–6. J. Scott, Chr. Life (1747), III. 252. Fifthly and lastly, That Christ also was that Jehovah and divine Lord and King … is evident.
1800. Young, in Phil. Trans., XCI. 82. Fifthly by immerging the eye in water.
