sixth

American  

[siksth] / sɪksθ /

adjective

1. next after the fifth; being the ordinal number for six.

2. being one of six equal parts.

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noun

sixths plural

1. a sixth part, especially of one (1/6).

2. the sixth member of a series.

3. Music.

   1. a tone on the sixth degree from a given tone (counted as a first).

   2. the interval between such tones.

   3. the harmonic combination of such tones.

adverb

1. in the sixth place; sixthly.

sixth British  

/ sɪksθ /

adjective

1. (usually prenominal)

   1. coming after the fifth and before the seventh in numbering or counting order, position, time, etc; being the ordinal number of six: often written 6th

   2. ( as noun )

      the sixth to go

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noun

1. 1. one of six equal or nearly equal parts of an object, quantity, measurement, etc

   2. ( as modifier )

      a sixth part

2. the fraction equal to one divided by six ( 1/ 6 )

3. music

   1. the interval between one note and another note six notes away from it counting inclusively along the diatonic scale

   2. one of two notes constituting such an interval in relation to the other See also major minor interval

   3. short for sixth chord

adverb

1. Also: sixthly.  after the fifth person, position, etc

1. Also: sixthly.  as the sixth point: linking what follows to the previous statements

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• sixthly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• sixths
  plural

Etymology

Origin of sixth

before 900; six + -th ²; replacing sixt, Middle English sixte, Old English sixta

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

sixth sixths

The World Cup is here, on our own soil for the first time — the United States, Canada and Mexico — and Lionel Messi is playing as the defending champion in his sixth tournament.

From Salon ● Jul. 15, 2026

ISM Manufacturing PMI, a popular barometer of national manufacturing activity, held above 50 for a sixth straight month in June, according to the latest data.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 15, 2026

The FTA between the world's fifth and sixth largest economies removes or reduces tariffs on 99% of Indian exports to the UK and 90% of UK imports into India.

From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026

OTTAWA—The Bank of Canada is likely to keep its policy rate unchanged for a sixth consecutive time on Wednesday, as inflation remains too hot to cut and economic activity too tepid to raise.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 13, 2026

And when I stopped eating lunch with the other sixth graders, he didn’t come looking for me then either.

From "Clairboyance" by Kristiana Kahakauwila

At meets, Mara racked up prize ribbons: lots of third-places, fourths, fifths, and sixths, the occasional second, the very rare first.

From Salon ● Aug. 3, 2024

I had these fragments and ideas of chord movements, improvisations, and some voicings that we hadn’t used before — slightly spiky, fourths and sixths rather than thirds and fifths.

From New York Times ● Mar. 24, 2023

One of those picks went to Miami in the Lance deal, but San Francisco will still have one second-round pick, two thirds, one fourth, one fifth, three sixths and one seventh.

From Seattle Times ● Apr. 22, 2022

Progress has been slow enough that firsts — or seconds — are noteworthy because they aren’t fifths or sixths or far enough down the list to be considered business as usual.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 20, 2022

All chords will tend towards pure fifths and thirds, as well as seconds, fourths, sixths, and sevenths that reflect the harmonic series.

From "Understanding Basic Music Theory" by Catherine Schmidt-Jones and Russel Jones