What does eleventh mean?
"Eleventh" is the ordinal form of the number eleven, marking position number eleven within an ordered sequence. As an adjective it appears in everyday contexts such as dates, anniversaries, sports standings, and floor numbers — for example, "their eleventh wedding anniversary." As a noun it can refer either to the member of a series occupying that position ("she was the eleventh to cross the line") or to a fraction consisting of one part in eleven equal parts. By far its most famous idiomatic use is the phrase "at the eleventh hour," meaning at the last possible moment before a deadline, an expression with roots in a biblical parable about late-arriving vineyard workers. The word carries no particular register restriction: it is equally at home in formal legal documents, news reporting, and casual conversation. Its usefulness lies in expressing precise sequence, and its idiom gives English a vivid shorthand for urgency and narrow escapes from failure.
Coming next after the tenth; constituting number eleven in a series.
"He moved into his eleventh apartment since leaving home."
Ordinals normally take the definite article: "the eleventh chapter."
The person or thing occupying the eleventh position in a sequence, or one of eleven equal parts of a whole.
"An eleventh of the proceeds was set aside for charity."
Used when referring to multiple fractional parts of elevenths.
"Three elevenths of the vote went to the challenger."
The phrase "at the eleventh hour" comes from the Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard in the Gospel of Matthew, where labourers hired at the eleventh hour — about 5 p.m., the end of the working day — still received full pay.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of eleventh
"Eleventh" derives from Old English "endlyfta" (or "lefta"), formed on "endleofon," the Old English word for eleven, which literally meant "one left" over ten — a compound of the Germanic roots for "one" and "leave." It shares this ancient Indo-European root for "one" (PIE *oi-no-) with words such as "alone," "once," and "any," and more distantly with Latin-derived terms like "unit" and "union." The word has been in continuous use throughout the history of English, developing smoothly into its modern form alongside the numeral "eleven."
How eleventh is actually used
Ordinals like "eleventh" typically take the definite article ("the eleventh of March"); they are written as digits followed by "th" in dates and formal lists (11th). The fractional sense takes singular agreement after "an" or "one".
Easily confused with eleventh
"Eleven" is the cardinal number 11 used for counting, while "eleventh" is the ordinal indicating position number eleven in a sequence.