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"fifth" in seven languages

Meaningfifth

Spanish

quinto

/ˈkinto/

inherited

French

cinquième

/sɛ̃kjɛm/

other source · cinq + -ième (Latin -ĒSIMUM)

Old French quint survives in Charles Quint.

Italian

quinto

/ˈkwinto/

inherited

Portuguese

quinto

/ˈkĩtu/

inherited

Romanian

al cincilea

/al ˈtʃintʃile̯a/

other source · Romanian cinci 'five' + ordinal -lea

Romanian builds its ordinals from the cardinals; the feminine is a cincea.

Catalan

cinquè

/siŋˈkɛ/

other source · Catalan cinc 'five' + ordinal -è

The feminine is cinquena; the old quint survives in formal use.

English

fifth

/fɪfθ/

Indo-European kin · PIE *pénkʷe

English → ItalianfifthquintoDistant cognateRelated only through Indo-European, thousands of years back (night ~ noche). But English has relatives: quintet, quintessence.What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

QUĪNTUM‘fifth’

All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.

The story

Spanish and Italian keep Latin QUĪNTUS; French rebuilt its ordinals from the cardinals with -ième (cinq → cinquième). Spanish lost the w-sound of qu (ˈkinto); Italian kept it (ˈkwinto).

English relatives: quintet, quintessence

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In a sentence

  • esEs la quinta vez que te lo digo.
  • frC'est la cinquième fois que je te le dis.
  • itÈ la quinta volta che te lo dico.
  • ptÉ a quinta vez que eu te digo isso.
  • roE a cincea oară când îți spun.
  • caÉs la cinquena vegada que t'ho dic.
  • enIt's the fifth time I've told you.

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