fortieth

the word 'fortieth' is a direct descendant of the old english ordinal number 'feowertigoþa', meaning 'the fortieth'. it is formed by combining the cardinal number 'forty', which itself evolved from old english 'feowertig' (a compound of 'feower', four, and 'tig', a group of ten), with the ordinal suffix '-eth'. this suffix, originating from proto-germanic '-dô', '-daz', is the standard english ending for forming ordinal numbers from four onwards (e.g., twentieth, thirtieth). the construction follows a consistent germanic pattern where the cardinal base is modified by a suffix to indicate position in a series, a logical and transparent method for creating ordinals.

Structure: forty + eth forty (from old english 'feowertig', meaning the number four tens); eth (from old english '-oþa', '-aþa', an ordinal number suffix)