Etymologically
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four

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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.
  • 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