eleventh

Pluralelevenths

1. 1
   adjective

   Coming after the tenth in a sequence; occupying position number eleven in an ordered series.

   The eleventh chapter finally reveals who committed the crime.

   She crossed the finish line in eleventh place after a strong final lap.

   Note

   A rebuilt word rather than an inherited one: Middle English elleventhe simply added -the to elleven. That regular shape pushed out older forms such as endleft and ellefthe, which descend from Old English endlefta. Its liveliest use is the idiom at the eleventh hour, the last stretch before a deadline, as when a late surge in a campaign arrives at the eleventh hour, just when it counts most.

2. 2
   nouncountable

   Whoever or whatever occupies position number eleven in an ordered set or sequence.

   Among the kings of that name, the eleventh reigned the longest.

   Of the twelve guests invited, the eleventh arrived just before dinner was served.

3. 3
   nouncountable

   Any one of eleven equal parts into which a whole is divided.

   She inherited an eleventh of the estate, the same share as each of her siblings.

   Roughly an eleventh of the total budget went toward maintenance.

4. 4
   nouncountable

   The note lying eleven scale degrees above the root of a chord.

   The arranger voiced the eleventh on top to soften the chord's tension.

   Adding an eleventh transforms a plain minor chord into something more colorful.

   Note

   A term from tertian harmony, where chords are built by stacking thirds: above the seventh and the ninth, the next third reaches the eleventh. It is the same pitch as the perfect fourth, raised by an octave, and it gives extended chords such as the dominant eleventh their name. Calling it an eleventh rather than a fourth signals that it belongs to that upper, extended part of the chord.

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