fortnight

English

WOTD – 6 February 2009

Alternative forms

• fortnith (dialectal, obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English fourtenyght, fourtene nyght, from Old English fēowertīene niht (literally “fourteen nights"; the Anglo-Saxons counted by nights), equivalent to fourteen +‎ night. Compare sennight.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈfɔːt.naɪt/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈfɔɹt.naɪt/
• IPA^(key): (obsolete) /ˈfɔɹt.nɪt/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Audio (General Australian):

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• Audio (General Australian):

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• Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)tnaɪt

Noun

fortnight (plural fortnights)

2. (chiefly UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, dated in North America) A period of 2 weeks.

   Hyponyms: quindene, quindecim

   Holonyms: month < year < gigasecond < century < kiloannum, kiloyear, millennium < terasecond < mega-annum, megayear < petasecond < giga-annum, gigayear < exasecond < zettasecond < yottasecond < ronnasecond < quettasecond

   Meronyms: quectosecond < rontosecond < yoctosecond < zeptosecond < attosecond < femtosecond < picosecond < nanosecond < microsecond < millisecond < centisecond < decisecond < second < decasecond < minute < hectosecond < kilosecond < hour < day < week < megasecond

   Near-synonym: halfmonth

   • 1933 January 9, George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], chapter I, in Down and Out in Paris and London, London: Victor Gollancz […], →OCLC:

     On being kicked the girl fell desperately in love with Henri, and for a fortnight they lived together and spent a thousand francs of Henri's money.

   • 1969 January 12, Benjamin Welles, “A Hot Potato for Nixon”, in The New York Times‎^[1], →ISSN, archived from the original on 12 December 2025:

     The “lame duck” Johnson Administration, in its final fortnight in office, grappled last week with a diplomatic hot potato in the form of the latest Soviet proposal for a “just and lasting” Middle East peace settlement.

   • 2025 December 12, Tobi Thomas, Denis Campbell, “NHS bracing for worst ever winter crisis in next fortnight amid rising flu cases”, in The Guardian‎^[2]:

     The NHS is bracing itself for its worst ever winter crisis descending in the next fortnight because of a worsening “flu-nami” that has left hospitals, GP surgeries and ambulances services under intense strain.

Derived terms

• nanofortnight (humorous)
• microfortnight (humorous)
• millifortnight (humorous)

Related terms

• fortnightly
• sennight

Descendants

• Tok Pisin: fotnait

Translations

period of two weeks

• Arabic: أُسْبُوعَان m du (ʔusbūʕān)
• Breton: ^{(please verify)} pemzektez m pl -ioù
• Bulgarian: две се́дмици (dve sédmici)
• Catalan: quinzena (ca) f
• Cebuano: kinsena
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 兩週 / 两周 (liǎngzhōu)

• Czech: dva týdny m pl, čtrnáct dní m pl
• Danish: to uger c pl, fjorten dage c pl
• Dhivehi: ފޮއި (foi)
• Dutch: veertien dagen pl, twee weken pl
• Esperanto: ^{(please verify)} duonmonato, ^{(please verify)} du semajnoj
• Finnish: kaksi viikkoa
• French: quinze jours (fr) m pl, deux semaines f pl (literally “two weeks”), quinzaine (fr) f
• German: vierzehn Tage (literally “fourteen days”), zwei Wochen (literally “two weeks”)
• Greek: δεκαπενθήμερο (el) n (dekapenthímero)
• Hebrew: שְׁבוּעַיִם m du (shvu'ayím)
• Hindi: पक्ष (hi) m (pakṣ), पखवाड़ा (hi) m (pakhvāṛā)
• Hungarian: két hét
• Icelandic: tvær vikur f pl (literally “two weeks”), hálfur mánuður m (literally “half a month”), fjórtán dagar m pl (literally “fourteen days”)
• Indonesian: dwiminggu (id)
• Irish: coicís f
• Italian: (periodo di) due settimane
• Japanese: 二週間 (にしゅうかん, nishūkan), 二七日 (ja) (ふたなぬか, futananuka)
• Korean: 2주일(二週日) (2ju'il), 2주일간(二週日間) (2ju'ilgan)
• Macedonian: две не́дели (dve nédeli)
• Maltese: ħmistax-il ġurnata
• Middle English: fourtenyght
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: to uker pl, fjorten dager pl

  Nynorsk: to veker pl, fjorten dagar pl, fjortendagar pl

• Occitan: quinzena, quinze jorns
• Old English: fēowertīene niht m pl
• Polish: dwa tygodnie m pl inan
• Portuguese: duas semanas f pl, quatorze/catorze dias m pl, quinzena (pt) f
• Romanian: două săptămâni f pl
• Russian: две неде́ли (dve nedéli), четы́рнадцать дней (četýrnadcatʹ dnej)
• Scots: fortnicht
• Scottish Gaelic: cola-deug m
• Spanish: quincena (es) f, catorcena (es) f
• Swedish: två veckor pl, fjorton dagar
• Telugu: పక్షము (te) (pakṣamu)
• Thai: ปักษ์ (th) (bpàk)
• Turkish: iki hafta
• Ukrainian: два ти́жні (dva týžni)
• Volapük: telvig (vo)
• Welsh: pythefnos f

References

• “fortnight”, in Merriam-Webster.com Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
• fortnight on Wikipedia.Wikipedia