four

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /fɔː/, US /fɔːr/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English four, earlier fower (1122),^[2] inherited from Old English fēower,^[3][4] from Proto-Germanic *fedwores,^[3] with cognates in Old Frisian fiūwer, Old Saxon fiwar, Dutch vier, Old High German fior (modern German vier), Old Norse fjórir and Gothic 𐍆𐌹𐌳𐍅𐍉𐍂 (fidwōr).^[2][5] It goes back to Proto-Indo-European *kʷetwer- (“four”),^[3][6] the source also of Latin quattuor, Ancient Greek τέσσαρες (téssares), Old Irish cethair, Welsh pedwar, Lithuanian keturi and Sanskrit चत्वारः (catvā́raḥ).^[2][7][8] The Germanic f- is unexpected from Proto-Indo-European kʷ-, and the change has not been fully explained;^[3][2] Watkins puts it down to the influence of the next numeral, five.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old English fēower, the number one more than three, is recorded about 725^[2] and could also mean “four times”.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The spelling four appears about 1280, after fower (1122) and fowr (before 1200).^[2] As a noun four came to name many sets of four: a card or die face with four pips (1599),^[9] a cricket hit scoring four runs (1837),^[9] and a four-oared boat or its crew (1861).^[9][10] On all fours is from 1719, earlier on all four (14th century).^[3] A four-in-hand was a carriage drawn by four horses with one driver (1793) and later a loosely knotted necktie (1892).^[3] Four-letter word, a euphemism for an obscene word, is attested from 1923.^[3] The ordinal fourth, Old English fēortha and Middle English ferthe, was later respelled after four.^[2][8]

Timeline

• c. 725 – Old English fēower.^[2]
• 1122 – fower.^[2]
• c. 1280 – the spelling four.^[2]
• 14th century – on all four.^[3]
• 1599 – a card or die face with four pips.^[9]
• 1719 – on all fours.^[3]
• 1793 – four-in-hand, a carriage.^[3]
• 1837 – in cricket, a hit for four runs.^[9]
• 1861 – a four-oared boat, or its crew.^[9]
• 1892 – four-in-hand, a necktie.^[3]
• 1923 – four-letter word.^[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The cardinal number one more than three; the numeral 4.
2. The fourth in a set or series.
3. A group or set of four, such as a playing card with four pips.
4. Four o'clock.
5. (cricket) A hit that reaches the boundary after touching the ground, scoring four runs.
6. (rowing) A boat rowed by four people, or its crew.

Adjective

1. Amounting to four in number.

Related words

• fourth
• farthing
• fourteen
• forty
• quarter
• tetra-
• quadri-

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
5. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
7. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
8. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ a b c d e f Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
10. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins