Meaning

noun a quantity of liquor equal to one fifth of a United States gallon

noun position five in a countable series of things

noun one part in five equal parts

originPIE word *pénkʷe From Middle English fifthe, fifte, fift, from Old English fīfta (“fifth”), from Proto-Germanic *fimftô (“fifth”) or *femftô, equivalent to five + -th (ordinal suffix). Cognate with Scots fift, fyft (“fifth”), North Frisian fyfde (“fifth”), West Frisian fyfde (“fifth”), Dutch vijfde (“fifth”), Low German fifte, föfte, füfte (“fifth”), German fünfte (“fifth”), Danish femte…

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0