Definitions for fortnight
ˈfɔrtˌnaɪt, -nɪtfort·night

Princeton's WordNetRate this definition:2.0 / 2 votes

1. fortnight, two weeksnoun

   a period of fourteen consecutive days

   "most major tennis tournaments last a fortnight"

WiktionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. fortnightnoun

   A period of fourteen nights; two weeks.

2. fortnightadverb

   After a fortnight has passed.

   1852 Charles Dickens, Bleak House: We will proceed with the hearing on Wednesday fortnight.

3. Etymology: Contracted form of feowertyne niht. Compare sennight.

Samuel Johnson's DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Fortnightnoun

   Etymology: contracted from fourteen nights, feowretynenight, Saxon.

   Tacitus,.

   Non dierum numerum ut nos, sed noctium computant.]

   The space of two weeks.

   She would give her a lesson for walking so late, that should make her keep within doors for one fortnight. Philip Sidney, b. ii.

   Hanging in a deep well, somewhat above the water, for some fortnights space, is an excellent means of making drink fresh and quick. Francis Bacon, Natural History.

   About a fortnight before I had finished it, his majesty’s declaration for liberty of conscience came abroad. Dryden.

   He often had it in his head, but never, with much apprehension, ’till about a fortnight before. Jonathan Swift.

WikipediaRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Fortnight

   A fortnight is a unit of time equal to 14 days (two weeks). The word derives from the Old English term fēowertīene niht, meaning "fourteen nights" (or "fourteen days," since the Anglo-Saxons counted by nights).

Webster DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Fortnightnoun

   the space of fourteen days; two weeks

2. Etymology: [Contr. fr. fourteen nights, our ancestors reckoning time by nights and winters; so, also, seven nights, sennight, a week.]

WikidataRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Fortnight

   A fortnight is a unit of time equal to fourteen days. The word derives from the Old English: fēowertyne niht, meaning "fourteen nights". Fortnight and fortnightly are commonly used words in Britain, Ireland and many Commonwealth countries such as Australia, India, New Zealand, and Pakistan, where many wages and salaries and most social security benefits are paid on a fortnightly basis. The word is rarely used in North America, except regionally in Canada and in insular traditional communities in the United States. American and Canadian payroll systems may use the term biweekly in reference to pay periods every two weeks. Neither term should be confused with semimonthly.

Chambers 20th Century DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Fortnight

   fort′nīt, n. two weeks or fourteen days.—adj. and adv. Fort′nightly, once a fortnight. [Contr. of A.S. féowertýne niht, fourteen nights.]

British National Corpus

1. Written Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'fortnight' in Written Corpus Frequency: #2043

2. Nouns Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'fortnight' in Nouns Frequency: #2363

How to pronounce fortnight?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say fortnight in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of fortnight in Chaldean Numerology is: 3

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of fortnight in Pythagorean Numerology is: 9

Examples of fortnight in a Sentence

1. Charlie Watts:

   Every band I’d ever been in had lasted a week, i always thought the Stones would last a week, then a fortnight, and then suddenly, it’s 30 years.

2. Steve Morris:

   With China, I just threw my laptop over my shoulder and went there for a fortnight, my approach is to make contact with possible dealers, meet them and look at their business plans... I have to ask whether the customer will be sufficiently looked after.

3. Erna Solberg:

   I ask you not to have any visitors at home. Wait a fortnight before inviting anyone home or visiting others.

4. Helen Dixon:

   I expect that file to land on my desk in the next fortnight, i'd like to say that we could do it in 48 hours, but it has to be in the order of months, to be done in the way that it has to be done. I will have to allow them a period of time to respond. I would have to consider their responses.

5. Samuel Johnson:

   When a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

References

1. ^ Princeton's WordNet
   http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=fortnight
2. ^ Wiktionary
   https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Fortnight
3. ^ Samuel Johnson's Dictionary
   https://johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/views/search.php?term=fortnight
4. ^ Wikipedia
   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortnight
5. ^ Webster Dictionary
   https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fortnight
6. ^ Wikidata
   https://www.wikidata.org/w/index.php?search=fortnight
7. ^ Chambers 20th Century Dictionary
   https://www.gutenberg.org/files/37683/37683-h/37683-h.htm#:~:text=fortnight