Etymologically
Log in

fourth

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 15 October 2026 at 19:27. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

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

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