Middle English Dictionary Entry
fourtī̆ num.
Entry Info
| Forms | fourtī̆ num. Also feowerti(ȝ, feortiȝ; fowerti(ȝ, vourti, forty; faurty; fuwerti, furty. |
| Etymology | OE fēowertig; constr. with gen. pl. in earliest ME texts. |
Definitions (Senses and Subsenses)
1.
(a) Cardinal as adj.: forty; (b) ~ sithes (times), forty times; (c) with nouns specifying periods of time: ~ woken, forty weeks; ~ daies, ~ dai(es and ~ night, ~ winter, ~ yer, etc.
Associated quotations
a
- c1275(?a1200) Lay.Brut (Clg A.9)3563 : Feuwerti hired cnihtes [Otho: fourti cnihtes].
- c1300 SLeg.(LdMisc 108)71/36 : He was up on heiȝ Fram eorþe mo þane fourti fet.
- c1325(c1300) Glo.Chron.A (Clg A.11)836 : Vourti kniȝtes wiþ him..of is siwte beo.
- (c1384) WBible(1) (Dc 369(2))2 Cor.11.24 : I resceyuede of the Jewis..fourty strokis.
- (c1395) Chaucer CT.Sum.(Manly-Rickert)D.2106 : We owen fourty pound for stones.
- a1400(a1325) Cursor (Vsp A.3)510 : Fourti mile on ilk day.
- a1425(?a1400) RRose (Htrn 409)3261 : In fourty places.
- (1440) *Capgr.St.Norb.(Hnt HM 55)3473 : Fourty mark þei sent him.
- a1500 Conq.Irel.(Rwl B.490)35 : Reymond went to the Erle with fourty [Dub: furty] knyghtis.
- c1450(1369) Chaucer BD (Benson-Robinson)422 : Grete trees..Of fourty or fifty fadme lengthe.
- a1475 Siege Troy(1) (Hrl 525)430 : Fourty sheppis he ded make newe.
b
- a1400(a1325) Cursor (Vsp A.3)5056 : And kyst him fourti sithes and mare.
- ?c1425 *Chauliac(2) (Paris angl.25)116a/a : More þan fourty tymes in fyue monthes.
- (1440) PParv.(Hrl 221)175 : Fowrty tymes: Quadragesies.
c
- c1225(?c1200) St.Juliana (Bod 34)55/588 : Ant feddest ham fowrti ȝer iþe wildernesse.
- c1300 SLeg.Brendan (LdMisc 108)252 : Fourti dawes heo wenden in þe se.
- a1325(c1250) Gen.& Ex.(Corp-C 444)583 : Reyn gette dun..fowerti dais and fowerti nigt.
- (a1333) Herebert My volk (Add 46919)8 : Ich ladde þe And uourty ȝer bihedde þe.
- c1350(a1333) Shoreham Poems (Add 17376)118/110 : Al hyre ioyen of uourti woken.
- (1340) Ayenb.(Arun 57)13 : He aros..and sseawede him..be uourti daȝes.
- 1372 My folk now (Adv 18.7.21)13 : Fourti wenter i sente þe angeles mete fro heuene.
- (c1375) Chaucer CT.Mk.(Manly-Rickert)B.3479 : Fully fourty dayes weren past.
- a1400(a1325) Cursor (Vsp A.3)8514 : Þis dauid..Was king..fourte [Göt: fourti] yere.
- c1400(?c1380) Cleanness (Nero A.10)403 : By forty dayez wern faren.
- c1400(c1378) PPl.B (LdMisc 581)11.46 : Coueityse-of eyghes..folwed me fourty wynter.
- (a1470) Malory Wks.(Win-C)7/34 : Within forty dayes he wold fetche hym.
2.
Cardinal as noun: (a) forty; bi fourti, in groups of forty; (b) the abstract number forty; rim (tale) of ~, the number forty.
Associated quotations
a
- c1175(?OE) Bod.Hom.(Bod 343)96/10 : Þe Hælend..festæ feowertiȝ daȝe & feowertiȝ nihtæ.
- c1175(?OE) HRood (Bod 343)12/11 : Ic feorwertiȝ ȝearæ þin folc forþ lædde.
- c1175 Orm.(Jun 1)15594 : Fowwerrtiȝ winnterr ȝedenn forþ.
- a1225(OE) Vsp.A.Hom.Init.Creat.(Vsp A.22)227 : He hi afedde feortiȝ wintre.
- c1275(?a1200) Lay.Brut (Clg A.9)31932 : Her comen þreo hundred scipen..bi sixe bi seouene..bi þritti bi feowerti.
- a1250 Ancr.(Nero A.14)24 : Vre leawede breþren siggeð..heihte & twenti Pater Nosters, ine helidawes forti.
- a1400(a1325) Cursor (Vsp A.3)2758 : If þou þar findes..Fifty or fourte [Göt: Fourti or thritti] o þi lele men.
- c1400(?c1380) Cleanness (Nero A.10)741 : Quat if faurty be fre, and fauty þyse oþer.
- c1425(a1420) Lydg.TB (Aug A.4)2.6397 : Mo þan fourty wer ageyns on.
- a1425(?a1400) RRose (Htrn 409)5733 : They wolde that fourty were seke at onys.
- a1400 Siege Jerus.(1) (LdMisc 656)775 : Fourty to fyȝten aȝens fyue hundred.
- ?c1430(c1400) Wycl.FCLife (Corp-C 296)192 : Þer ben fourty or fyfty in a queer.
- ?c1475 *Cath.Angl.(Add 15562)51a : Fowrty: quadragenarius, quadragegenus [Monson: quadragenus].
b
- c1175 Orm.(Jun 1)11248 : Þatt full wel iss bitacnedd Þurrh tale & rime off fowwerrtiȝ.
- (a1398) *Trev.Barth.(Add 27944)327a/a : Ten is þe firste articulus..& þanne þritty, fourty, and so forþ.
- ?c1425 Craft Number.(Eg 2622)6/5 : Articulis ben..alle þat may be deuidyt into nomburs of ten & nothynge leue ouer, as twenty, thretty, fourty.
3.
Cardinal in compound numbers: four and ~, ~ hondred, hondred and ~, etc.
Associated quotations
a
- a1126 Peterb.Chron.(LdMisc 636)an.1124 : Feower & feowerti manne.
- c1175(?OE) Bod.Hom.(Bod 343)106/15 : & þisses festenes is twea & feowertiȝ daȝene.
- a1200 Trin.Hom.(Trin-C B.14.52)61 : Adam was in helle in pine fuwerti hundred wintre.
- c1300 SLeg.Dunstan (LdMisc 108)105 : Eyȝhte an fourti Abbeies..huy arerden in Enguelonde.
- (c1390) Chaucer CT.ML.(Manly-Rickert)B.12 : Phebus..Degrees was fyue and fourty clombe on highte.
- (a1398) *Trev.Barth.(Add 27944)62a/a : Þe foot is maad of foure & fourty boones.
- c1400(?c1380) Pearl (Nero A.10)786 : We bene A hondred & forty þowsande flot.
- a1400 Siege Jerus.(1) (LdMisc 656)436 : Þat prince..michel peple ladde, Fourty hundred in helmes.
- c1440 PLAlex.(Thrn)14/10 : The grete lordes..tuke fourty thowsandez of besandez.
- c1450 Ponthus (Dgb 185)83/7 : Corbatan..made xij batelles and had moo then fourtee thovsand.
4.
Used as ordinal: fortieth.
Associated quotations
- a1325(c1250) Gen.& Ex.(Corp-C 444)3439 : Ðe seuene and forwerti dai..he funden steden.
- 1372 Als i lay vp-on (Adv 18.7.21)73 : Þe fourti day, to fille þe lawe, We solen to temple ifere.
- (a1387) Trev.Higd.(StJ-C H.1)4.277 : Þanne þe þre and fourty ȝere of Augustus bygynneþ in þe firste ȝere of þe age of Criste.
- c1400 Glo.Chron.A (Add 19677)6658 fn. : Fourty [Clg: In þe ȝer of grace an þousend & on & fortiþe ȝer].
- a1425(?a1400) Cloud (Hrl 674)79 : Here bigynnyþ on & fourty chapitre.
- a1450 Methodius(2) (Add 37049)96/24 : In þe fourty ȝere of Jareth..war wykkyd men.
- ?c1475 *Cath.Angl.(Add 15562)51a : Fowrty: quadragesimus.