Fifth is the word for the number five in a sequence, coming after fourth and before sixth. If you line up for lunch and four people are ahead of you, you're the fifth person in line. In a race with twelve runners, finishing fifth means four people crossed the finish line before you.

The word appears constantly in everyday situations. Your fifth birthday is the one you celebrate when you turn five years old. If today is October 5th, it's the fifth day of the month. In school, fifth grade comes after fourth grade. Musicians use the word differently: a fifth is the distance between two notes, like from C to G on a piano.

You'll often see “fifth” written as “5th,” with a small “th” raised slightly above the 5. People also use fractions with the word: one-fifth means dividing something into five equal parts and taking one of them. If you and four friends split a pizza equally, each person gets one-fifth of the pizza, or two slices if it's cut into ten pieces.

In American history, the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution protects people from having to testify against themselves in court, which is why you might hear someone say they're “taking the fifth” when they refuse to answer a question.