Millionth

Millionth

Adjective / Noun · /ˈmɪl.jənθ/

Definition

(Ordinal adjective) constituting number one million in a sequence; (Noun) one millionth — the fraction equal to one divided by one million (1/1,000,000); also used informally to mean for the umpteenth time or as an extreme form of repetition.

Origin

From million (from French million, Italian milione, from mille thousand + -one augmentative) + the ordinal suffix -th. The ordinal suffix -th (as in fourth, hundredth, thousandth) derives from Old English -tha or -the, from Proto-Germanic *-ithōn, related to Latin -tus in sextus (sixth). The word millionth as an ordinal is first recorded in the 17th century. The informal intensifying use (for the millionth time) is a hyperbolic construction using extreme number to signal emphatic repetition.