sixteenth

[siks-teenth]

adjective

1. next after the fifteenth; being the ordinal number for 16.

2. being one of 16 equal parts.

noun

1. a sixteenth part, especially of one (1/16).

2. the sixteenth member of a series.

3. Music.,  sixteenth note.

Word History and Origins

Origin of sixteenth¹

before 900; Middle English sixtenthe ( sixteen, -th ² ); replacing Middle English sixtenthe, sixtethe, Old English sixtēotha ( tithe )

Example Sentences

Surely Penelope’s former headmistress would never have forgotten her sixteenth birthday!

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From the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries, approximately twelve million Africans were transported across the Atlantic as human property.

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Indeed, Spanish steel might have conquered the New World in the sixteenth century, but its long rule over that vast region was facilitated by the appeal of a shared Christian religion.

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The biggest technical reason is the race is a sixteenth of a mile shorter than the Derby.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

When Kelsey Barnard Clark won the sixteenth season of "Top Chef," set in Kentucky, she clinched victory with a dish that defied fine dining expectations: cornbread and buttermilk with crawfish, boiled peanuts, cucumber and watermelon.

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