Word.ws English Dictionary

-th

/-θ/

-th suffix: used to form nouns from verbs of action.

Suffix (1)

-th

  1. (idiomatic) Used to form nouns from verbs of action.
    • grow + -th → growth
    • heal + -th → health
    Synonyms:
    -ing, -ation
  2. (now only productive in informal words) Used to form nouns of quality from adjectives.
    • warm + -th → warmth
    • long + -th → length
    Synonyms:
    -ness, -ity, -cy, -itude

Suffix (2)

-th

  1. Used to form the ordinal numeral when the final term of the spelled number is not “first”, “second”, or “third”.
    • the 4th/Fourth of July
    • Washington’s first outpost of the California-born burger joint opened Wednesday after long anticipation and a few fake-outs (like the prank sign someone posted in Wallingford in June). Problem is, it’s located in Ridgefield, a suburb of Vancouver, Washington. […] Ridgefield is the 424th location.2025 August 21, Allison Williams, “I Braved Washington’s First In-N-Out Burger Line”, in Seattle Met, archived from the original on 28 Aug 2025
    1. Used to form a term denoting the ordinal numeral corresponding to the value, being a natural number, of a mathematical expression.
      • The nth term of a geometrical progression whose first term is a and common ratio is r is given by ar#123;n-1#125;.
  2. Used to form the denominator of a fraction.
    • one seventh; three tenths

Suffix (3)

-th

  1. (archaic) A variant of -eth, used to form the archaic third-person singular indicative present tense of verbs.
    • come → cometh
    • have → hath

-th meaning in Persian and Vietnamese

-th in Persian

used to form the ordinal numeral
ـم -om

-th in Vietnamese

used to form the ordinal numeral
thứ ...
More languagesFewer languages
Dhivehi
ވަނަ vana

Synonyms of -th

Forms of -th

alternative form-t

Origin of -th

From Middle English -the, -th, -te, -t (abstract nominal suffix), from Old English -þ, -t, -þu, -tu, -þo, -to (“-th”, abstract nominal suffix), from Proto-Germanic *-iþō, from Proto-Indo-European *-iteh₂. Cognate with Scots -th, West Frisian -te, Dutch -te, Low German -de, Danish -de, Swedish -d, Icelandic -ð, -d, Gothic -𐌹𐌸𐌰 (-iþa), Latin -itās (“-ty, -ity”). See -ity, -t.

From Middle English -the, -th, -te, -t (ordinal suffix), from Old English -þa, -þe, -oþa, -oþe, derived from a Proto-Indo-European superlative suffix.

From Middle English -eth, -th, from Old English -eþ, -aþ, -þ.

Questions about -th

What does -th mean?
-th means used to form nouns from verbs of action.
What is -th in Persian?
-th in Persian is ـم (-om). See -th meaning in Persian.
What part of speech is -th?
-th is a suffix.
How do you pronounce -th?
-th is pronounced /-θ/.

Words near -th in the dictionary

  1. -tepine
  2. -teplase
  3. -terenol
  4. -terol
  5. -terone
  6. -th
  7. -thelium
  8. -therm
  9. -thermal
  10. -thermic
  11. -thermy

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: -th (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this entry: “-th.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/-th. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.