fortnight

[ fawrt-nahyt, -nit ]
See synonyms for fortnight on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. the space of fourteen nights and days; two weeks.

Origin of fortnight

1
First recorded before 1000; Middle English fourtenight, contraction of Old English fēowertēne niht; see fourteen, night

Words Nearby fortnight

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use fortnight in a sentence

  • A fortnight ago, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey's prime minister, accused Israel of committing "genocide" against the Palestinians.

    Turkish Hypocrisy | Benny Morris | March 28, 2012 | THE DAILY BEAST
  • It appears that even the sedate fortnight has a soft spot for star-f------.

    Mick Jagger's Cannes Love-In | Richard Porton | May 20, 2010 | THE DAILY BEAST
  • A primitive savage makes a bow and arrow in a day: it takes him a fortnight to make a bark canoe.

  • Some of the half-made hay in the meadows looks as though it had been standing out to bleach for the last fortnight.

    Glances at Europe | Horace Greeley
  • Who could have believed that only a fortnight ago these same figures were clean as new pins; smart and well-liking!

  • I shall be glad to hear from you soon, as I intend to go to Padstow in a few days and shall not return under a fortnight.

  • During that fortnight of silence the whole of the Turkish Empire has been moving—closing in—on the Dardanelles.

British Dictionary definitions for fortnight

fortnight

/ (ˈfɔːtˌnaɪt) /


noun
  1. a period of 14 consecutive days; two weeks

Origin of fortnight

1
Old English fēowertīene niht fourteen nights

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012