fortnight

[ fawrt-nahyt, -nit ]

/ ˈfɔrtˌnaɪt, -nɪt /

Save This Word!

See synonyms for fortnight on Thesaurus.com

noun

the space of fourteen nights and days; two weeks.

QUIZ

WILL YOU SAIL OR STUMBLE ON THESE GRAMMAR QUESTIONS?

Smoothly step over to these common grammar mistakes that trip many people up. Good luck!

Question 1 of 7

Fill in the blank: I can’t figure out _____ gave me this gift.

who

whom

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of fortnight

before 1000; Middle English fourtenight, contraction of Old English fēowertēne niht.See fourteen, night

Words nearby fortnight

Fort Monroe, Fort Moultrie, Fort Myer, Fort Myers, Fort Nelson, fortnight, fortnightly, Fort Orange, Fort Payne, Fort Peck, Fort Pickens

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use fortnight in a sentence

Entries can be wiped from the record after a day, a week, a fortnight, a month, or a year—your choice.
Level up your browsing with these five Safari tips|David Nield|December 19, 2021|Popular-Science
For a fortnight in Glasgow, delegates from nearly 200 countries will argue back and forth over the great energy transition—over the political and practical challenges of shifting the world from fossil fuels to renewables.
COP26 heads to Glasgow even as the UK struggles with energy|Samanth Subramanian|October 31, 2021|Quartz
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 Show|Robert W. Chambers|February 20, 2014|DAILY BEAST
There were no other visitors save for a man who came for a fortnight with his wife and seven children.
Bin Laden’s Life on the Run, Witnessed by Al Qaeda Child Bride|Michael Daly|July 10, 2013|DAILY BEAST

Fireplace ashes are a hazard for at least a day and can remain so for as long as a fortnight, Duran says.
Madonna Badger’s ‘Today’ Interview Shouldn’t Ignore Fire’s Tragic Lessons|Michael Daly|June 21, 2012|DAILY BEAST
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|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|DAILY BEAST
A primitive savage makes a bow and arrow in a day: it takes him a fortnight to make a bark canoe.
The Unsolved Riddle of Social Justice|Stephen Leacock
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!
Gallipoli Diary, Volume I|Ian Hamilton
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.
Life of Richard Trevithick, Volume II (of 2)|Francis Trevithick
During that fortnight of silence the whole of the Turkish Empire has been moving—closing in—on the Dardanelles.
Gallipoli Diary, Volume I|Ian Hamilton

British Dictionary definitions for fortnight

fortnight

/ (ˈfɔːtˌnaɪt) /

noun

a period of 14 consecutive days; two weeks

Word Origin for fortnight

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