fortnight
[fawrt-nahyt, -nit]
- the space of fourteen nights and days; two weeks.
Origin of fortnight
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for fortnight
Contemporary Examples
This that you describe must have happened a fortnight after he died.
Read ‘The King in Yellow,’ the ‘True Detective’ Reference That’s the Key to the ShowRobert W. Chambers
February 20, 2014
There were no other visitors save for a man who came for a fortnight with his wife and seven children.
Fireplace ashes are a hazard for at least a day and can remain so for as long as a fortnight, Duran says.
A fortnight ago, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey's prime minister, accused Israel of committing "genocide" against the Palestinians.
Afghanistan was almost forgotten in Britain, until the recent upsurge in British casualties: 16 dead in a fortnight.
Historical Examples
From that day for nearly a fortnight there were busy doings in the house.
Weighed and WantingGeorge MacDonald
They were to go to Dublin for a week, and then up to Ballyards for a fortnight.
The Foolish LoversSt. John G. Ervine
We have been having this sort of thing now for ten days; no, a fortnight—a fortnight.
The Secret AgentJoseph Conrad
We have been here about a fortnight, and I believe we shall stay about a month longer.
Tales And Novels, Volume 5 (of 10)Maria Edgeworth
This course of life may have lasted a fortnight; when I became heartily tired of it.
Ned MyersJames Fenimore Cooper
fortnight
- a period of 14 consecutive days; two weeks
Word Origin
Old English fēowertīene niht fourteen nights
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for fortnight
n.
17c. contraction of Middle English fourteniht, from Old English feowertyne niht, literally "fourteen nights," preserving the ancient Germanic custom of reckoning by nights, mentioned by Tacitus in "Germania" xi. Related: Fortnightly.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper