seventeenth

[ sev-uhn-teenth ]

adjective

1. next after the sixteenth; being the ordinal number for 17.
2. being one of 17 equal parts.

noun

1. a seventeenth part, especially of one (1/17).
2. the seventeenth member of a series.

Word History and Origins

Origin of seventeenth¹

before 900; seventeen + -th ²; replacing Middle English seventethe, Old English seofontēotha. ( seven, tithe )

Example Sentences

In the seventeenth century, Thomas Hobbes pegged laughter as the companion of scorn.

From Salon

In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, these tunnels were used to store human remains from overcrowded cemeteries.

From Literature

When the United States declared war, it had a large and modern navy but a small, poorly equipped army, only the seventeenth largest in the world.

From Literature

If you have friends who appreciate their Irish heritage, you might have a party to attend, but otherwise, March seventeenth is nothing more than a good day to believe in magical happenings and happy accidents.

From Salon

Conquered from the Ottoman Empire by the Russian Empress Catherine the Great in the seventeenth century, the Russian president says that means these lands are in fact rightfully Russian.

From BBC