fortnight

English

WOTD – 6 February 2009

Alternative forms

• fortnith (dialectal, obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English fourtenyght, fourtene nyght, from Old English fēowertīene niht (literally “fourteen nights"; the Anglo-Saxons counted by nights), equivalent to fourteen +‎ night. Compare sennight.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈfɔːt.naɪt/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈfɔɹt.naɪt/
• (obsolete) IPA^(key): /ˈfɔɹt.nɪt/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)tnaɪt

Noun

fortnight (plural fortnights)

1. (chiefly UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, dated in North America) A period of 2 weeks.
   • 1933 January 9, George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], chapter I, in Down and Out in Paris and London, London: Victor Gollancz […], →OCLC:

     On being kicked the girl fell desperately in love with Henri, and for a fortnight they lived together and spent a thousand francs of Henri's money.

   • 1969 January 12, Benjamin Welles, “A Hot Potato for Nixon”, in The New York Times‎^[1], →ISSN:

     The “lame duck” Johnson Administration, in its final fortnight in office, grappled last week with a diplomatic hot potato in the form of the latest Soviet proposal for a “just and lasting” Middle East peace settlement.

Hyponyms

• quindene, quindecim

Related terms

• fortnightly
• microfortnight
• halfmonth

Translations

period of two weeks

• Arabic: أُسْبُوعَان m du (ʔusbūʕān)
• Breton: ^{(please verify)} pemzektez m pl -ioù
• Bulgarian: две седмици (dve sedmici)
• Catalan: quinzena (ca) f
• Cebuano: kinsena
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 兩週 / 两周 (liǎngzhōu)

• Czech: dva týdny m pl, čtrnáct dní m pl
• Danish: to uger c pl, fjorten dage c pl
• Dhivehi: ފޮއި (foi)
• Dutch: veertien dagen pl, twee weken pl
• Esperanto: ^{(please verify)} duonmonato, ^{(please verify)} du semajnoj
• Finnish: kaksi viikkoa
• French: quinze jours (fr) m pl, deux semaines f pl, quinzaine (fr) f
• German: vierzehn Tage, zwei Wochen
• Hebrew: שבועיים \ שְׁבוּעַיִם m du (shvu'ayím)
• Hindi: पक्ष (hi) m (pakṣ), पखवाड़ा (hi) m (pakhvāṛā)
• Hungarian: két hét
• Icelandic: tvær vikur f pl, hálfur mánuður m, fjórtán dagar m pl
• Indonesian: dwiminggu (id)
• Irish: coicís f
• Italian: (periodo di) due settimane
• Japanese: 二週間 (にしゅうかん, nishūkan), 二七日 (ja) (futananuka)
• Macedonian: две не́дели (dve nédeli)
• Maltese: ħmistax-il ġurnata
• Middle English: fourtenyght
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: to uker pl, fjorten dager pl

  Nynorsk: to veker pl, fjorten dagar pl, fjortendagar pl

• Occitan: quinzena, quinze jorns
• Old English: fēowertīene niht m pl
• Polish: dwa tygodnie m pl inan
• Portuguese: duas semanas f pl, quatorze/catorze dias m pl, quinzena (pt) f
• Romanian: două săptămâni f pl
• Russian: две неде́ли (dve nedéli), четырнадцать дней (četyrnadcatʹ dnej)
• Scots: fortnicht
• Scottish Gaelic: cola-deug m
• Spanish: quincena (es) f
• Swedish: två veckor pl, fjorton dagar
• Telugu: పక్షము (te) (pakṣamu)
• Thai: ปักษ์ (th) (bpàk)
• Turkish: iki hafta
• Volapük: telvig (vo)
• Welsh: pythefnos f

See also

• sennight

References

• “fortnight”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
• fortnight on Wikipedia.Wikipedia