fourteenth

The word 'fourteenth' is a transparent ordinal number construction native to English. Its core, 'four', descends from the Proto-Indo-European root kʷetwóres, which gave rise to the number four across many Indo-European languages. The addition of the Old English suffix '-teen' (a form of 'ten') creates the cardinal number 'fourteen', literally meaning 'four and ten'. Finally, the ordinal suffix '-th', also from Old English, is appended to transform the cardinal number into its sequential, ordinal form, meaning 'number fourteen in a series'. This tripartite structure exemplifies the regular and logical Germanic system for forming ordinal numbers beyond twelve.

Structure: four (4) + teen (ten) + th (ordinal suffix) - 'four': From Old English 'fēower', of Proto-Germanic origin, related to Latin 'quattuor' and Greek 'tessares'. Functions as the cardinal number base. - 'teen': From Old English '-tēne', a suffix forming the cardinal numbers 13–19, meaning 'ten'. It is a variant of 'ten'. - 'th': From Old English '-þa', '-þe', '-oþ', a suffix forming ordinal numbers (e.g., fourth, tenth).