four

Etymology

From Middle English fower, from Old English fēower, from Proto-Germanic *fedwōr, from previous pre-Grimm *petwṓr, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷetwṓr, the neuter form of *kʷetwóres. Cognate with German vier, Gothic 𐍆𐌹𐌳𐍅𐍉𐍂 (fidwōr), Ancient Greek τέσσαρες (téssares), Latin quattuor (French quatre, Portuguese quatro), Old Norse fjórir (Danish and Norwegian fire), Russian четы́ре (četýre), Sanskrit चतुर् (catur).

Pronunciation

• (UK)
  • (Received Pronunciation) enPR: fô, IPA^(key): /fɔː/
  • (Scotland) IPA^(key): /fo(ː)ɹ/
• (US)
  • (General American) enPR: fôr, IPA^(key): /fɔɹ/
  • (rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger) enPR: fōr, IPA^(key): /fo(ː)ɹ/
  • (non-rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger) IPA^(key): /foə/

  • Audio (US)

    (file)

    (without horse–hoarse merger)

  • Audio (US)

    (file)

    (with horse–hoarse merger)
• (General Australian, General New Zealand) IPA^(key): /foː/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -əʊə(r), -ɔː(ɹ)
• Homophones: fore, for (accents with the horse–hoarse merger)

Numeral

four

1. (cardinal) A numerical value equal to 4; the number after three and before five; two plus two. This many dots (••••)

   There are four seasons: winter, spring, summer and autumn.

   • 1912, Zane Grey, Riders of the Purple Sage, Chapter 8

     Venters began to count them—one—two—three—four—on up to sixteen.

2. Describing a set or group with four components.

Noun

four (countable and uncountable, plural fours)

1. (countable) The digit or figure 4; an occurrence thereof.
2. (countable) Anything measuring four units, as length.

   Do you have any more fours? I want to make this a little taller.

3. A person who is four years old.

   I'll take the threes, fours and fives and go to the playground.

4. (cricket, countable) An event whereby a batsman hits a ball which bounces on the ground before passing over a boundary in the air, resulting in an award of 4 runs for the batting team. If the ball does not bounce before passing over the boundary, a six is awarded instead.
5. (basketball, countable) A power forward.
6. (rowing) Quadruple sculls.
7. (obsolete) A four-pennyworth of spirits.
   • 1887, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, A Study in Scarlet, IV:

     I was a-strollin' down, thinkin' between ourselves how uncommon handy a four of gin hot would be, when suddenly the glint of a light caught my eye in the window of that same house.

See also

Pages starting with "four".

Playing cards in English · playing cards (layout · text)
ace	deuce, two	three	four	five	six	seven
eight	nine	ten	jack, knave	queen	king	joker

Symbols of number four in various numeral systems

• Arabic numerals: 4
• Chinese numerals: 肆, 四
• Greek numerals: (uppercase) Δ΄, (lowercase) δ΄
• Roman numerals: IV or IIII

Anagrams

• furo, rouf

Etymology

From Latin furnus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fuʁ/

• audio

  (file)

Noun

four m (plural fours)

1. oven
2. stove
3. flop

Further reading

• “four” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Etymology

From Latin foris, foras. Compare Italian fuori, Friulian fûr, Dalmatian fure, Venetian fora.

Adverb

four

1. out, outside

Preposition

four

1. out, outside

Alternative forms

• fou (Jersey)

Etymology

From Latin furnus.

Noun

four m (plural fours)

1. (Guernsey) oven