FIFTH - The Law Mind Legal Dictionary

FIFTHAuthored

The Law Mind • 1099 words

Definition

In legal usage, "the Fifth" is shorthand for the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, and the term carries two distinct reference points depending on context.

THE FIFTH AMENDMENT (U.S. CONST. amend. V): The fifth amendment to the federal Constitution, ratified in 1791 as part of the Bill of Rights. It contains five separate protections: (1) the requirement of grand jury indictment for serious federal criminal charges; (2) the prohibition on double jeopardy; (3) the privilege against compelled self-incrimination; (4) the due process guarantee; and (5) the takings clause prohibiting uncompensated government seizure of private property. In colloquial and courtroom usage, "pleading the Fifth" or "taking the Fifth" refers specifically to invoking the self-incrimination privilege.

THE TWENTY-FIFTH AMENDMENT (U.S. CONST. amend. XXV): Ratified in 1967, this amendment governs presidential succession and disability. It established procedures for filling a vice-presidential vacancy, and created mechanisms by which a president may be temporarily or permanently removed from power due to inability to discharge the duties of the office.

ORDINAL USAGE IN LEGAL INSTRUMENTS: "Fifth" appears as a straightforward ordinal in procedural and drafting contexts — referring to a fifth count in a complaint, a fifth cause of action, a fifth juror, or a fifth numbered clause in a contract or statute. This usage carries no special legal weight beyond its positional meaning.

Common Language

Modern common usage (Wiktionary): The ordinal form of the number five.

Historical common usage (Webster's 1913): Next in order after the fourth; the ordinal of five. Consisting of one of five equal divisions of a thing.

The gap between common and legal usage is sharp and practically important. In everyday speech, "the Fifth" has become so strongly associated with the constitutional self-incrimination privilege that the phrase functions almost as a standalone noun. A witness who "takes the Fifth" is understood by most Americans to be refusing to answer on constitutional grounds — yet the underlying amendment contains four other significant protections that are frequently litigated and that researchers may need to engage separately. The common shorthand can obscure which clause of the Fifth Amendment is actually at issue.

Common Confusion

FIFTH AMENDMENT SELF-INCRIMINATION vs. OTHER FIFTH AMENDMENT CLAUSES: Because "the Fifth" in popular usage is almost entirely synonymous with the self-incrimination privilege, researchers and practitioners sometimes lose sight of the other four clauses. The Takings Clause, for example, is also Fifth Amendment doctrine and generates an entirely separate body of constitutional litigation. Similarly, the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment (applying to the federal government) is analytically distinct from the Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process Clause (applying to the states), though both are frequently invoked in parallel.

FIFTH AMENDMENT vs. TWENTY-FIFTH AMENDMENT: Especially in political and journalistic contexts, these two amendments are sometimes conflated. Invocations of "the Twenty-Fifth" during discussions of presidential incapacity are distinct legal proceedings with no relationship to the criminal procedure rights covered by the Fifth Amendment.

Why It Matters in Research

The most important navigational point for corpus researchers is that "the Fifth" in any legal source almost always means the self-incrimination privilege unless context clearly indicates otherwise — but the other four clauses generate substantial and independent bodies of law. When searching historical legal materials for Fifth Amendment doctrine, a researcher focused on takings or due process may need to search those specific clause names rather than relying on "Fifth Amendment" as a reliable organizing term, because older sources often treat the clauses under separate headings (e.g., "just compensation," "due process of law," "double jeopardy") without grouping them together.

The Anderson's Dictionary source material for this term reflects a significant gap: the excerpt provided addresses an unrelated statutory commission reporting requirement rather than the amendment itself. This is characteristic of late nineteenth-century legal dictionaries, which often treated constitutional provisions under their subject-matter labels (self-incrimination, eminent domain, due process) rather than under the amendment's ordinal designation. Researchers using period dictionaries should not expect to find comprehensive Fifth Amendment doctrine indexed under "Fifth."

For the Twenty-Fifth Amendment, historical research is bounded by 1967 on the near side and by the absence of substantial precedent on the other — the amendment has been formally invoked only a handful of times. Researchers should treat this as a largely forward-looking doctrinal area with limited historical depth in the corpus.

The self-incrimination privilege has undergone significant evolution through the twentieth century, particularly following the mid-century expansion of the privilege to state proceedings via incorporation. Pre-incorporation sources may treat the Fifth Amendment privilege as a federal-only protection, which creates a real interpretive trap when reading older materials alongside modern doctrine.

The emerging area of compelled decryption — whether requiring a person to produce a password or decrypt a device violates the self-incrimination privilege — is active and unsettled. Researchers in this space should expect the corpus to reflect a fast-moving, fragmented doctrinal landscape.

Historical Dictionary Support

Anderson's Dictionary of Law does not provide a substantive entry for "Fifth" as a constitutional term. The text included in the source material addresses an unrelated statutory provision concerning a federal commission's reporting duties. This absence is itself informative: nineteenth-century legal dictionaries tended to treat constitutional rights by subject matter rather than by amendment number. Researchers should look under SELF-INCRIMINATION, DOUBLE JEOPARDY, EMINENT DOMAIN, TAKINGS, and DUE PROCESS in period dictionaries to find what modern practitioners would organize under the Fifth Amendment.

Webster's 1913 treats "fifth" as a purely ordinal term, with no legal dimension noted — consistent with the era's treatment of constitutional doctrine as a matter for specialized legal sources rather than general dictionaries.

Jurisdictional Note

The Fifth Amendment applies directly to the federal government. Its self-incrimination and double jeopardy protections have been incorporated against the states through the Fourteenth Amendment, but the Grand Jury Clause has not been incorporated and remains inapplicable to state criminal proceedings. State constitutions often contain parallel provisions, but their scope and interpretation may differ. Researchers working on state criminal procedure should not assume federal Fifth Amendment doctrine maps directly onto state law.

Encyclopedia Cross-Reference

The Fifth Amendment — Grand Jury Indictment Clause (constitutional_122)
Presidential Succession and Disability — The Twenty-Fifth Amendment (constitutional_139)
Encryption, Privacy, and the Fifth Amendment — Compelled Decryption (constitutional_204)

FIFTHmain

Anderson's Dictionary of Law • 1890

Said commission shall make an annual report to the President for transmission to Congress, showing its own action, the rules and regulations and exceptions thereto in force, the practical effects thereof, and any suggestions it may approve for the more effectual accomplishment of the purposes of this act. Sec. 3. That said commission is authorized to employ a chief examiner, a part of whose duty it shall be, under its direction, to act with the examining boards, so far as practicable, whether at Washington or elsewhere, and to secure accuracy, uniformity, and justice in all their proceedings, which shall be at all times open to him. The chief examiner shall be entitled to receive a salary at the rate of three thousand dollars a year, and he shall be paid his necessary traveling expenses incurred in the discharge of his duty. The commission shall have a secretary, to be appointed by the President, who shall receive a salary of one thousand six hundred dollars per annum. It may, when necessary, employ a stenographer, and a messenger, who shall be paid, when employed, the former at the rate of one thousand six hundred dollars a year, and the latter at the rate of six hundred dollars a year. The commission shall, at Washington, and in one or more places in each State and Territory where examinations are to take place, designate and select a suitable number of persons, not less than three, in the official service of the United States, residing in said State or Territory, after consulting the head of the department or office in which such persons serve, to be members of boards of examiners, and may at any time substitute any other person in said service living in such State or Territory in the place of any one so selected. Such boards of examiners shall be so located as to make it reasonably convenient and inexpensive for applicants to attend before them; and where there are persons to be examined in any State or Territory, examinations shall be held therein at least twice in each year. It shall be the duty of the collector, postmaster, and other officers of the United States, at any place outside of the District of Columbia where examinations are directed by the President or by such board to be held, to allow the reasonable use of the public buildings for holding such examinations, and in all proper ways to facilitate the same. Sec. 4. That it shall be the duty of the secretary of the interior to cause suitable and convenient rooms and accommodations to be assigned or provided, and to be furnished, heated, and lighted, at the city of Washington, for carrying on the work of said commission and said examinations, and to cause the necessary stationery and other articles to be supplied, and the necessary printing to be done for said commission. Sec. 5. That any said commissioner, examiner, copyist, or messenger, or any person in the public service who shall willfully and corruptly, by himself or in co-operation with one or more other persons, defeat, deceive, or obstruct any person in respect of his or her right of examination according to any such rules or regulations, or who shall willfully, corruptly, and falsely mark, grade, estimate, or report upon the examination or proper standing of any person examined hereunder, or aid in so doing, or who shall willfully and corruptly make any false representa tions concerning the same or concerning the person examined, or who shall willfully and corruptly furnish to any person any special or secret information for the purpose of either improving or injuring the prospects or chances of any person so examined, or to be examined, being appointed, employed, or promoted, shall for each such offense be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine of not less than one hundred dollars, nor more than one thousand dollars, or by imprisonment not less than ten days, nor more than one year, or by both such fine and imprisonment. Sec. 6. That within sixty days after the passage of this act it shall be the duty of the secretary of the

FIFTHa.

Websters Unabridged Dictionary (1913) • 1913

Next in order after the fourth; -- the ordinal of five. Consisting of one of five equal divisions of a thing. Fifth monarchy men (Hist.), a fanatical sect in England, of the time of the commonwealth, who maintained that there would be a fifth universal monarchy, during which Christ would reign on earth a thousand years.  -- Fifth wheel, a horizontal wheel or segment above the fore axle of a carriage and beneath the body, forming an extended support to prevent careening.

FIFTHn.

Websters Unabridged Dictionary (1913) • 1913

The quotient of a unit divided by five; one of five equal parts; a fifth part. The interval of three tones and a semitone, embracing five diatonic degrees of the scale; the dominant of any key.

Fifthname

Wiktionary (English) • 2026

Wiktionary contributors • CC BY-SA 4.0 • via Kaikki
Extracted and formatted for display by Law Mind. Source link opens the current Wiktionary page and its contributor history; it is not a frozen copy of this extract.

The Fifth Amendment. | The right not to give self-incriminating testimony. | Fifth Avenue. | Fifth Street.

fifthadj

Wiktionary (English) • 2026

The ordinal form of the number five.

fifthnoun

Wiktionary (English) • 2026

The person or thing in the fifth position. | The person or thing in the fifth position. | The fifth gear of a transmission. | One of five equal parts of a whole: one-fifth. | A quantity of liquor equal to one-fifth of an American gallon, or, more commonly, 750 milliliters (that is, three quarters of a liter). | The musical interval between one note and another five scale degrees higher (the fifth note in a scale) | The fifth voice in a polyphonic melody.

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