tenth

American  

[tenth] / tɛnθ /

adjective

1. next after ninth; being the ordinal number for ten.

2. being one of ten equal parts.

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noun

1. one of ten equal parts, especially of one (1/10).

2. the member of a series preceding the eleventh and following the ninth.

3. Music.

   1. a tone distant from another tone by an interval of an octave and a third.

   2. the interval between such tones.

   3. the harmonic combination of such tones.

4. Also called tenth's place.  (in decimal notation) the position of the first digit to the right of the decimal point.

adverb

1. in the tenth place; tenthly.

tenth British  

/ tɛnθ /

adjective

1. (usually prenominal)

   1. coming after the ninth in numbering or counting order, position, time, etc; being the ordinal number of ten: often written 10th

   2. ( as noun )

      see you on the tenth

      tenth in line

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noun

1. 1. one of 10 approximately equal parts of something

   2. ( as modifier )

      a tenth part

2. one of 10 equal divisions of a particular measurement, etc

   decibel

3. the fraction equal to one divided by ten ( 1/ 10 )

4. music

   1. an interval of one octave plus a third

   2. one of two notes constituting such an interval in relation to the other

adverb

1. Also: tenthly.  after the ninth person, position, event, etc

1. Also: tenthly.  as the 10th point: linking what follows with the previous statements, as in a speech or argument

Etymology

Origin of tenth

before 1150; Middle English tenthe, Old English. See ten, -th ², tithe

Example Sentences

The category made up about 5% of typical U.S. investment portfolios and barely a tenth of MSCI’s All Country World Index.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 29, 2026

According to the U.S Energy Information Administration, California’s natural gas production provides less than one tenth of what the state consumes.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 29, 2026

Tuna react to small changes in water temperature to within a tenth of a degree of celsius, adds Diffey.

From BBC • Apr. 26, 2026

Imagine if your credit card company declined every tenth transaction, reviewed and approved them only if you called, and then determined that more than half of the charges were not fraudulent at all.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 22, 2026

For millennia the center of Jewish life had been planted firmly in the Middle East, but in the tenth century an opportunity for Jews arose in Spain.

From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife