～番目
～ばんめ · ～banme · JLPT N2 · noun
thursday
🥇 番目 = 番 turn/number + 目 item marker: the item at turn N
番 means a turn or a place in a sequence, as in 番号 (number). 目 marks an item's position in order. So 三番目 is the third one in line, and 一番目 is the first.
番 — 釆 (animal tracks) on top + 田 (field) below
Originally a pictograph showing animal paw prints (釆) in a field (田), depicting tracks left by beasts. The early meaning related to taking turns or sequences, as tracks come one after another. It later extended to 'foreign' or 'barbarian,' and is now used as a measure word for occurrences or to mean 'number/turn.'