fortieth
Americanadjective
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next after the thirty-ninth; being the ordinal number for 40.
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being one of 40 equal parts.
noun
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a fortieth part, especially of one (1/40).
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the fortieth member of a series.
adjective
noun
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one of 40 approximately equal parts of something
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( as modifier )
a fortieth part
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the fraction equal to one divided by 40 ( 1/ 40 )
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of fortieth
before 1100; Middle English fourtithe, Old English fēowertigotha. See forty, -eth 2
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
It orbits extremely close to its star, at a distance just one fortieth that of Mercury from the Sun.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 22, 2026
For the past 900 years, the coronation has been held in Westminster Abbey - William the Conqueror was the first monarch to be crowned there, and Charles will be the fortieth.
From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2022
The first Sunday in Lent is also called Quadragesima Sunday, which is derived from the Latin words meaning "fortieth," as this first Sunday is exactly 40 days before Easter.
From Fox News ● Mar. 6, 2022
Almost always I’d rather stay home than go out, so for my friend Rachel’s fortieth birthday party, on February 29th, I selfishly volunteered my apartment.
From Slate ● Sep. 11, 2020
Captain Black looked out the rocket port with his face that should have been the face of a man eighty but seemed like the face of a man in his fortieth year.
From "The Martian Chronicles" by Ray Bradbury
It will hardly be said to reach us, the book with forty-man power in it, until it has been broken up into fortieths of itself.
From The Lost Art of Reading by Lee, Gerald Stanley
On one fortieth of the shares much higher interest was to be paid than on the other thirty-nine fortieths.
From The History of England, from the Accession of James II — Volume 4 by Macaulay, Thomas Babington Macaulay, Baron
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
