fourth

American  

[fawrth, fohrth] / fɔrθ, foʊrθ /

adjective

1. next after the third; being the ordinal number for four.

2. being one of four equal parts.

3. Automotive. of, relating to, or operating at the gear transmission ratio at which the drive shaft speed is greater than that of third gear for a given engine crankshaft speed, but not so great as that of fifth gear, if such exists.

   fourth gear.

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noun

• fourths
  plural

1. a fourth part, especially of one (¼).

2. the fourth member of a series.

3. Music.

   1. a tone on the fourth degree from a given tone (counted as the first).

   2. the interval between such tones.

   3. the harmonic combination of such tones.

4. Automotive. fourth gear.

   She downshifted from fifth to fourth as we started up the hill.

5. the Fourth. Independence Day; the Fourth of July.

adverb

1. in the fourth place; fourthly.

fourth British  

/ fɔːθ /

adjective

1. 1. coming after the third in order, position, time, etc. Often written: 4th

   2. ( as noun )

      the fourth in succession

2. denoting the fourth forward ratio of a gearbox in motor vehicles

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noun

1. music

   1. the interval between one note and another four notes away from it counting inclusively along the diatonic scale

   2. one of two notes constituting such an interval in relation to the other See also perfect interval diminished

2. the fourth forward ratio of a gearbox in a motor vehicle

   he changed into fourth as soon as he had passed me

3. a less common word for quarter

adverb

1. after the third person, position, event, etc

1. as the fourth point: linking what follows with the previous statements, as in a speech or argument

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• fourths
  plural

Etymology

Origin of fourth

First recorded before 950; Middle English fourthe, Old English fēowertha; see four, -th ²

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

fourth fourths

Growing up in the Great Smoky Mountains town of Sevierville in east Tennessee, Parton was the fourth of 12 kids.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026

I would add energy as a fourth overweight.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 26, 2026

Chicago also led the U.S. in home-price growth for the fourth month in a row.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 25, 2026

Reigning world champion Norris moved up to fourth in the drivers' standings, 83 points adrift of Mercedes' Antonelli.

From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026

The dock was built in the old-fashioned style, thick stone making three corners of a square, lined with buildings, the fourth side open to the sea.

From "Impossible Creatures" by Katherine Rundell

The Jack Berrys, the Bob Pauls, the Hunt brothers, the Lykes brothers, all of them with juniors or thirds or fourths.

From Slate ● Apr. 20, 2026

At meets, Mara racked up prize ribbons: lots of third-places, fourths, fifths, and sixths, the occasional second, the very rare first.

From Salon ● Aug. 3, 2024

"The amount of people with neuropathy in this study, particularly undiagnosed neuropathy, was extraordinarily high with almost three fourths of the study population," Elafros said.

From Science Daily ● May 8, 2024

Trip jacket selection is an art and a science, best done elegantly, with attention paid to form, function, aesthetics and viability — as a pillow when folded into fourths or eighths on a long-haul flight.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 19, 2024

You will notice that I have not included F to B in the possible menu of perfect fourths.

From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall

Related Words

• one-fourth
• part
• portion
• term