fourth

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /fɔːθ/, US /fɔːrθ/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English fourthe, an alteration, under the influence of four, of earlier ferthe,^[2][3] inherited from Old English fēorþa (“fourth”), also fēowerþa,^[2][3] formed from fēower “four” and the ordinal suffix -þa (-th).^[2][3] It goes back to Proto-Germanic *feurthan, the source also of Old Saxon fiortho, Old Norse fjórði, Dutch vierde, Old High German fiordo and German vierte.^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Next after the third: about 950 in the OED.^[4] The form with -ou-, by influence of four, is from the mid-15th century.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Fourth part, one of four equal parts, is from about 1000,^[4] and the noun is used of fractions and in music from the 1590s:^[2] a musical interval of four degrees from 1597.^[4] The early Quakers, who rejected the pagan names of the weekdays, called Wednesday fourth day.^[2] The Fourth of July, the anniversary of American independence, is recorded as a celebration from 1777.^[2][4] The theatre's fourth wall is from 1807, and the fourth dimension from 1844.^[2] The fourth estate, the press, is in the OED.^[4]

Timeline

• c. 950 – next after the third.^[4]
• c. 1000 – fourth part.^[4]
• mid-15th century – the form fourthe.^[2]
• 1597 – a musical fourth.^[4]
• 1777 – the Fourth of July.^[2][4]
• 1807 – fourth wall.^[2]
• 1844 – fourth dimension.^[2]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Coming next after the third in order.
2. Being one of four equal parts.

Noun

1. The fourth person or thing in a series.
2. One of four equal parts; a quarter.
3. (music) The interval of four degrees of a scale, or a note at that interval.
4. The fourth forward gear of a vehicle.

Word family

• fourthly
• farthing
• firkin
• fourth-class
• fourth dimension
• fourth estate
• fourth position

Related words

• four
• forty
• fourteen
• quarter
• tetra-

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 k l m Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press