The fifteenth item in a series is the one that you count as number fifteen.
...the invention of the printing press in the fifteenth century.
2. fraction
A fifteenth is one of fifteen equal parts of something.
fifteenth in British English
(ˈfɪfˈtiːnθ)
adjective
1.
a.
coming after the fourteenth in order, position, time, etc. Often written: 15th
b.
(as noun)
the fifteenth of the month
noun
2.
a.
one of 15 equal or nearly equal parts of something
b.
(as modifier)
a fifteenth part
3.
the fraction equal to one divided by 15 (1⁄15)
4.
a.
an interval of two octaves
b.
one of two notes constituting such an interval in relation to the other, esp the one higher in pitch
c.
an organ stop of diapason quality sounding a note two octaves higher than that normally produced by the key depressed; a two-foot stop
fifteenth in American English
(ˈfɪfˈtɛɛnθ)
adjective
1.
preceded by fourteen others in a series; 15th
2.
designating any of the fifteen equal parts of something
noun
3.
the one following the fourteenth
4.
any of the fifteen equal parts of something; 1⁄15
adverb
5.
in the fifteenth place, rank, group, etc.
Word origin
ME fiftenthe < fifteotha < fiftene: see fifteen & -th2
Examples of 'fifteenth' in a sentence
fifteenth
The danger area is below fifteenth position.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
Hungarian became a literary language only in the fifteenth century.
The Times Literary Supplement (2012)
Yesterday's left them fifteenth in the table and their smallest crowd for six years fretting anxiously.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
Here too the church has the faded remains of fourteenth - fifteenth century frescoes.
Jepson, Tim Umbria - the green heart of Italy (1989)
The striker will be claiming the goal, his fifteenth of the season.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
It was the striker's fifteenth league goal of the season.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
Now we give them an 8 per cent chance of relegation and again expect them to finish fifteenth.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
The name and the idea of academies had been revived in Italy in the course of the fifteenth century.
The Times Literary Supplement (2013)
By the second half of the fifteenth century the face of warfare had changed with the introduction of gunpowder to Europe.
Andy Dougan THE HUNTING OF MAN (2004)
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)
At the beginning of the season we gave them an 11 per cent chance of the drop and expected them to finish fifteenth.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
Though almost no one refers to the entire medieval period as the "dark ages" anymore, the years from the fifth through the fifteenth century were often gloomy.
Christianity Today (2000)
In other languages
fifteenth
British English: fifteenth /ˈfɪfˈtiːnθ/ ADJECTIVE
The fifteenth item in a series is the one that you count as number fifteen.