position 20 in a countable series of things
"She was the twentieth person to arrive at the meeting."
A person or thing in the twentieth position.
"The twentieth runner crossed the finish line just after midnight."
In plain English: A twentieth is one of twenty equal parts that make up a whole thing.
"She checked off her twentieth birthday on the calendar with excitement."
The ordinal form of the number twenty.
"The twentieth century began in 1901 and ended in 2000."
In plain English: Twentieth means coming after nineteen and being equal to one divided by twenty.
"She was born on her twentieth birthday this year."
Usage: Use "twentieth" as an adjective to describe items ranked at that specific position, such as a twentieth-century novel or the twentieth chapter. Ensure it is paired with singular nouns and placed directly before them unless used after the noun in formal contexts like legal dates.
The word twentieth comes from the combination of "twenty" and a suffix used in older forms like twenteth or twentieth. It entered Middle English as an ordinal number derived directly from Old English, maintaining its meaning throughout history.