This article is about the unit of time measurement. For the video game, seeFortnite. For other uses, seeFortnight (disambiguation).
Afortnight is a unit of time equal to 14days (twoweeks). The word derives from theOld English termfēowertīene niht, meaning "fourteennights" (or "fourteen days", since the Anglo-Saxons counted by nights).[1][2]
Astronomy and tides
Further information:Eclipse cycle
Inastronomy, alunar fortnight is half alunar synodic month, which is equivalent to themean period between a full moon and a new moon (and vice versa). This is equal to 14.77 days.[3][4]It gives rise to a lunar fortnightlytidal constituent (see:Long-period tides).
Analogs and translations
In many languages, there is no single word for a two-week period, and the equivalent terms "two weeks", "14 days", or "15 days" (counting inclusively) have to be used.
- Celtic languages: inWelsh, the termpythefnos, meaning "15 nights", is used. This is in keeping with the Welsh term for a week, which iswythnos ("eight nights").[5] InIrish, the term iscoicís.
- Similarly, inGreek, the term δεκαπενθήμερο (dekapenthímero), meaning "15 days", is used.
- TheHindu calendar uses theSanskrit word पक्ष "pakṣa", meaning one half of alunar month, which is between 14 and 15 solar days.
- InRomance languages there are the termsquincena (orquince días) inGalician andSpanish,quinzena orquinze dies inCatalan andquinze dias orquinzena inPortuguese,quindicina[citation needed] inItalian,quinze jours orquinzaine inFrench, andchenzină inRomanian, all meaning "a grouping of 15".
- Semitic languages have a "doublingsuffix". When added at the end of the word for "week" it changes the meaning to "two weeks". InHebrew, the single-wordשבועיים (shvu′ayim) means exactly "two weeks". Also inArabic, by adding the commondual suffix to the word for "week",أسبوع, the formأسبوعين (usbu′ayn), meaning "two weeks", is formed.
- Slavic languages: inCzech the termsčtrnáctidenní anddvoutýdenní have the same meaning as "fortnight".[6] InUkrainian, the termдва тижні is used in relation to "biweekly, two weeks".
See also
Look upfortnight in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
- FFF system
- Half-month
- Sennight
- Ides (idus), Roman day for the midst of a month.
References
- ^"Fortnight".The Concise Oxford Dictionary (5th ed.). 1964. p. 480.
- ^Senight,sennight orse'night (seven-night), an old word for the week, was still in use in the early 19th century, to judge fromJane Austen's letters.
- ^Littmann, Mark; Fred Espenak; Ken Willcox (2008).Totality: Eclipses of the Sun.Oxford University Press.ISBN 978-0-19-953209-4.
- ^Weisstein, Eric W."Synodic Month definition".
- ^BBC (16 October 2014)."BBC Wales - Catchphrase".BBC Wales. Retrieved18 November 2016.
Wythnos is a week.
- ^"Do You Know How to Say Fortnight in Different Languages?".www.indifferentlanguages.com.