fourth
The person or thing in the fourth position.
Adjective
- The ordinal form of the number four.
- The fourth model is called the enlightment model: Actors are seen to be responsible for problems but unable or unwilling to provide solutions. They are believed to need discipline provided by authoritative guidance. The...
- Finnley is the fourth daughter of Jason and Kylie Kelce, having already welcomed Wyatt, Elliotte and Bennett to the family. - 2025 April 2, Ben Morse, “‘Whoop, there she is!’: Jason and Kylie Kelce announce birth of...
Origin
Inherited from Middle English fourthe, an alteration (due to four) of ferthe, from Old English fēorþa, fēowerþa, from Proto-West Germanic *feurþō, from Proto-Germanic *fedurþô, equivalent to four + -th (ordinal suffix). Cognates Compare West Frisian fjirde, Saterland Frisian fjädde, fjoode, Dutch vierde, German Low German feerde, feerd, German vierte, Danish fjerde, Icelandic fjórði.
Derived
fardel farthing firkin fourth-class fourth class fourth contact fourth cousin fourth cover fourth cranial nerve Fourth Cycle fourth-degree fourth-degree burn fourth digit fourth dimension fourth down fourth estate fourth finger fourth freedom rights fourth gear fourth gender fourth grade fourth grader fourthie Fourth Industrial Revolution
Noun
- The person or thing in the fourth position.
- We are one F and two M's seeking the company of a fourth (M or F) for our spacious and friendly Somerville apt. - 1978 April 8, “Classified advertisement”, in Gay Community News, page 14:
- A quarter, one of four equal parts of a whole.
Synonyms: fourth part quarter farthing
- The fourth gear of an engine.
- A musical interval which spans four degrees of the diatonic scale, for example C to F (C D E F).
- Now I've heard there was a secret chord / That David played, and it pleased the Lord / But you don't really care for music, do ya? / It goes like this, the fourth, the fifth - 1984, Leonard Cohen, “Hallelujah”, in...
- One sixtieth of a third or tierce.
- […] thirds (sixtieths of seconds), fourths (sixtieths of thirds) and so on, but then it becomes very cumbersome. - 1994, John David North, The Fontana History of Astronomy and Cosmology, page xxi:
Forms
Derived
augmented fourth diminished fourth Fourth of July perfect fourth
Verb
- To agree with a proposition or statement after it has already been thirded.
- If he remembered rightly what took place in the House on the first night of the session, the Attorney General would have to file an information, not only against the noble Lord who proposed the address, and the hon....
- A lisping young “Soundings,” or master’s assistant, sung out “I thecond the mothon,” instantly transferring his beer to our hero’s face. In short the resolution was thirded, fourthed, fifthed, and sixthed, all following...
- It was then moved, seconded, thirded, fourthed, and fifthed, “that Jarman be, and is hereby hung, and ought to be kicked.” - 1892 December 31, Talbot Baines Reed, “Tom, Dick, and Harry. A School Story.”, in The Boy’s...