What does fourteenth mean?
Fourteenth is the ordinal number corresponding to fourteen, marking position fourteen in any ordered sequence. Used chiefly as an adjective, it appears wherever precise ranking or ordering matters: dates ('the fourteenth of February'), centuries ('a manuscript from the fourteenth century'), floors of buildings, anniversaries, sports standings, and legal instruments such as the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Less commonly it serves as a noun, denoting one of fourteen equal parts of a whole — a fourteenth of the total. Like all English ordinals, it can be written out in full or abbreviated as '14th'. The word carries no emotional connotation in itself, but the contexts it names are often historically weighty, from medieval literature to constitutional law. Its pronunciation ends in the 'th' characteristic of all ordinals, and it sits between thirteenth and fifteenth in both value and sound, making it easy to confuse with the visually similar fortieth.
Coming, occurring, or ranked immediately after the thirteenth; being position fourteen in a series.
"The couple exchanged cards on their fourteenth wedding anniversary."
May be written as the spelled-out word or as the figure 14 followed by 'th'; in dates, British usage typically writes 'the fourteenth of February', while American usage favors 'February 14th'.
Each of fourteen equal parts into which something is divided; the fraction one fourteenth.
"A fourteenth of the proceeds was allocated to charity."
Used only when 'fourteenth' functions as a noun denoting fractional parts; two or more such parts are expressed as plural 'fourteenths', e.g. 'three fourteenths'.
"The recipe calls for three fourteenths of a cup of sugar."
In the United States, 'fourteenth' isn't just a number — the Fourteenth Amendment redefined citizenship itself, guaranteeing equal protection under the law to all persons born or naturalized in the country.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of fourteenth
The English ordinals descend from Old English practice of appending '-tha' to cardinal numbers, so 'fourteenth' derives from the cardinal 'fourteen', which traces back through Germanic forms to the root 'four' (Old English 'feower'). That Germanic root is related to the Indo-European *kwetwer-, the source of Latin 'quattuor', from which come cognates such as 'quarter', 'quart', 'quadruple', and 'quatrain'. Ordinal formations like 'fourteenth' have been used in English since the earliest recorded periods for counting sequences, dates, and divisions.
Related word forms
How fourteenth is actually used
'Fourteenth' is written either as a word ('the fourteenth') or as a figure followed by 'th' ('14th'). In dating, British style often places the ordinal before the month ('the fourteenth of February'), while American style commonly places it after ('February 14th'). It carries no particular connotation beyond its numerical meaning, though specific instances — like the Fourteenth Amendment or the fourteenth century — carry strong historical resonance.
Easily confused with fourteenth
Fortieth is the ordinal of forty (40th), whereas fourteenth is the ordinal of fourteen (14th); their near-identical spellings and sounds make them easy to mix up.