fourth English · revision 3002

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 950|origins=gem-pro *fedwōrþô}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /fɔːθ/, US /fɔːrθ/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|fourthe]], an alteration, under the influence of [[four]], of earlier ferthe,^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) [[inh|ang|fēorþa|t=fourth]], also fēowerþa,^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) formed from fēower “four” and the ordinal suffix -þa ([[-th]]).^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) It goes back to [[gem-pro|*fedwōrþô|alt=*feurthan]], the source also of Old Saxon fiortho, Old Norse fjórði, Dutch vierde, Old High German fiordo and German vierte.^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Next after the third: about 950 in the OED.^(OED 1989) The form with -ou-, by influence of ''four'', is from the mid-15th century.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ ''Fourth part'', one of four equal parts, is from about 1000,^(OED 1989) and the noun is used of fractions and in music from the 1590s:^(Etymonline) a musical interval of four degrees from 1597.^(OED 1989) The early Quakers, who rejected the pagan names of the weekdays, called Wednesday ''fourth day''.^(Etymonline) ''The Fourth of July'', the anniversary of American independence, is recorded as a celebration from 1777.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) The theatre's ''fourth wall'' is from 1807, and the ''fourth dimension'' from 1844.^(Etymonline) ''The fourth estate'', the press, is in the OED.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 950 – next after the third.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1000 – ''fourth part''.^(OED 1989)

+ * mid-15th century – the form fourthe.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1597 – a musical fourth.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1777 – ''the Fourth of July''.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1807 – ''fourth wall''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1844 – ''fourth dimension''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Coming next after the [[third]] in order.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Being one of four equal parts.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # The fourth person or thing in a series.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # One of four equal parts; a [[quarter]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # ''(music)'' The [[interval]] of four degrees of a scale, or a note at that interval.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # The fourth forward gear of a vehicle.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[fourthly]]

+ * [[farthing]]

+ * [[firkin]]

+ * [[fourth-class]]

+ * [[fourth dimension]]

+ * [[fourth estate]]

+ * [[fourth position]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[four]]

+ * [[forty]]

+ * [[fourteen]]

+ * [[quarter]]

+ * [[tetra-]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}