A sixteenth is one part when something is divided into sixteen equal pieces. If you slice a pizza into sixteen slices, each slice is one sixteenth of the whole pizza. We write it as 1/16 in math.

You encounter sixteenths often when measuring. Rulers typically mark inches down to sixteenths, showing tiny lines between the eighths. Carpenters and woodworkers need this precision when cutting materials to exact sizes. In cooking, you might see recipes calling for a sixteenth of a teaspoon of a strong spice, though that's quite small and hard to measure accurately.

In music, a sixteenth note is a note that lasts for one sixteenth of a whole note. When musicians play sixteenth notes quickly in a row, they create rapid, intricate patterns. You can hear them in fast classical pieces or in the quick strumming of a guitar.

The word also means the item that comes after the fifteenth in a sequence. Someone might celebrate their sixteenth birthday, or finish in sixteenth place in a race. When referring to a century, the sixteenth century means the years 1501 through 1600, when explorers like Magellan circumnavigated the globe and Shakespeare was writing his plays.