The sixteenth item in a series is the one that you count as number sixteen.
...the sixteenth century AD.
2. fraction
A sixteenth is one of sixteen equal parts of something.
...a sixteenth of a second.
...fifteen sixteenths of an inch.
sixteenth in British English
(ˈsɪksˈtiːnθ)
adjective
1. (usually prenominal)
a.
coming after the fifteenth in numbering or counting order, position, time, etc; being the ordinal number of sixteen: often written 16th
b.
(as noun)
the sixteenth of the month
noun
2.
a.
one of 16 equal or nearly equal parts of something
b.
(as modifier)
a sixteenth part
3.
the fraction that is equal to one divided by 16 (1⁄16)
sixteenth in American English
(ˈsɪksˈtinθ)
adjective
1.
preceded by fifteen others in a series; 16th
2.
designating any of the sixteen equal parts of something
noun
3.
the one following the fifteenth
4.
any of the sixteen equal parts of something; 1⁄16
adverb
5.
in the sixteenth place, rank, etc.
Word origin
ME sixtenthe, replacing OE syxteotha: see sixteen & -th2
Examples of 'sixteenth' in a sentence
sixteenth
She finally escaped just before her sixteenth birthday.
The Sun (2007)
My most recent wave of grief came just last year before her sixteenth birthday.
Christianity Today (2000)
He went into action just a month before his sixteenth birthday.
Paul Preston DOVES OF WAR: Four Women of Spain (2002)
Capitalism was born in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries and expanded throughout a significant portion of the globe during that time.
Sanderson, Stephen K. Macrosociology: An Introduction to Human Societies (1995)
That was in the sixteenth century.
Hebblethwaite, Peter Paul VI - The First Modern Pope (1993)
But the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries?
The Times Literary Supplement (2012)
In the first part of the sixteenth century it had been one of the busiest and richest trading cities in the world.
Rodney Bolt HISTORY PLAY: The Lives and After-life of Christopher Marlowe (2004)
They were promoted to the Championship two seasons ago and are sixteenth in the table this campaign.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
Twelve years ago, this would have been a meaningless encounter between the counties in fifteenth and sixteenth position in the table.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
Recently, literary scholars have been keen to discuss the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries in terms of continuity as well as change.
The Times Literary Supplement (2011)
Where modern economics would alter the price of a commodity, the usual practice before the sixteenth century was to change the size of the measure.
Andro Linklater MEASURING AMERICA (2002)
What influences prepared the way for the Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century?
Marius, Richard A Short Guide to Writing About History (1995)
There is, once again, a strong focus on the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.
The Times Literary Supplement (2010)
For historians of reading and historians of the book, the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries offer particularly rich ground for tracing the evolution of the reading experience.
The Times Literary Supplement (2013)
Ancient drama re-emerged in the sixteenth century as a model for a new form of spectacular musical entertainment: opera.
The Times Literary Supplement (2011)
Worse, opponents might argue that because the historian was not religious himself, he wanted to find skepticism in the sixteenth century.
Marius, Richard A Short Guide to Writing About History (1995)
In other languages
sixteenth
British English: sixteenth /ˈsɪksˈtiːnθ/ ADJECTIVE
The sixteenth item in a series is the one that you count as number sixteen.