fortnight

«fortnight» in Mova's school dictionary: A period of two weeks; fourteen days — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

noun (a fortnight, fortnights) — mainly UK, Ireland, Australia, NZ

meaning for a pupil

A period of two weeks; fourteen days. tree →

sense in the lessons

Used in everyday life in Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand, less in the USA and Canada (where people say "two weeks"). In maths: "a fortnight" means 14 days. Phrases: a fortnight ago, in a fortnight, every fortnight, fortnightly.

examples

• We're going on holiday for a fortnight. tree →
• I'll see you in a fortnight. tree →
• The library books are due back in a fortnight. tree →
• How many days are there in three fortnights? Forty-two. tree →
• She gets paid every fortnight. tree →
• The magazine comes out fortnightly. tree →
• It was more than a fortnight since the Moon had shone. tree →

note

Comes from old English "fourteen nights". Maths: 1 fortnight = 14 days = 2 weeks; 2 fortnights = 28 days, not a full month. Americans may not know the word.

In the corpora

• For a fortnight the teacher did not notice — until the book fell apart in her hands.
• She listens, writes it all down, and within a fortnight he moves to a new family, the Okafors.
• A fortnight is two weeks, so it is 14 days.
• 2 fortnights and 3 days: 2 × 14 = 28 days, and 28 + 3 = 31 days.
• A fortnight is 2 weeks, 14 days; the word is common in Britain, Ireland and Australia.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «fortnight» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.