Th
/θ/ or /ð/noun
A suffix used in English to form ordinal numbers and, in certain words, abstract nouns expressing a state, quality, or condition.
Did you know?The abstract-noun use of “-th” survives in words such as “wealth,” “health,” and “truth,” preserving a productive Germanic word-forming pattern thousands of years old.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*-ti- / *-tih₂-
“A noun-forming element used to create abstract nouns expressing an action, result, or condition.”
Proto-Germanic
Germanic
*-iþō
“A suffix forming abstract nouns, especially words for states or qualities.”
Old English
Old English
-þ / -th
“A suffix used in nouns such as hǣlþ, “health,” and wīsdōm-related formations expressing qualities or conditions.”
Old English
Old English
-þa / -þe
“An ordinal-number ending, as in tēoþa, “tenth.””
Middle English
English
-th
“The suffix became the regular ending of many ordinal numbers, including fourth, fifth, and tenth.”
Modern English
English
-th
“Still used for most ordinal numbers and preserved in inherited abstract nouns such as strength, length, truth, and death.”