fortnight

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈfɔːt.naɪt/ (UK); /ˈfɔɹt.naɪt/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English fourtenight,^[2][3][4] a contraction of fourtene night,^[2][3][5] inherited from Old English fēowertīene niht (“fourteen nights”),^{[2][3][5][6][4]} from fēowertīene “fourteen” and niht “night”.^[2][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

A period of fourteen nights; two weeks (a1000).^[7][5][3]

Semantic evolution

The word preserves the ancient Germanic custom of counting time by nights, mentioned by Tacitus.^[5][6] Barnhart notes the same reckoning in Welsh, where wythnos “eight nights” means a week and pythefnos “fifteen nights” a fortnight.^[5] Phrases like Monday fortnight, “a fortnight from Monday”, date from 1389.^[7]

Timeline

• a1000 – fēowertīene niht, fourteen nights.^[7][5]
• c1300 – fourteniht.^[5]
• 1389 – this day fortnight, a fortnight from today.^[7]
• 1549 – attributive, fortnightly.^[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A period of fourteen days; two weeks.

Related words

• fortnightly
• sennight
• fourteen
• night

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
5. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
6. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press