fourth-highest

The compound adjective "fourth-highest" is a modern analytical construction built entirely from native English elements. Its first element, "fourth," descends from the Old English ordinal number, itself derived from the cardinal "four," a word of ancient Proto-Indo-European origin (kʷetwóres). The second element, "highest," combines the adjective "high," from a Proto-Germanic root meaning tall or elevated, with the superlative suffix "-est," the most direct Germanic descendant of the Proto-Indo-European superlative -isthos. The compound's logic is purely syntactic, transparently denoting the position in an ordered list that is at the peak of the scale, yet preceded by three other items.

Structure: fourth (ordinal number) + highest (superlative degree) - fourth: From Old English fēowertha, fēortha, related to fēower (four). An ordinal number suffix derived from the Proto-Germanic -dô. - highest: The superlative form of the adjective high, from Old English hēah, with the superlative suffix -est, from Proto-Germanic -istaz.