four
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: homophone: fore
homophone: foure
note: without the horse–hoarse merger
enpr: fōr
ipa: /fo(ː)r/
note: Indic, rhotic
ipa: /foɾ/
note: US, rhotic
ipa: /fo(ː)ɹ/
note: US, non-rhotic
ipa: /foə/
note: non-rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger but with the dough–door merger
enpr: fō
homophone: foe
homophone: faux
note: African-American Vernacular
ipa: /foʊ/
note: Indic
ipa: /fo/
note: rhotic, horse–hoarse merger
enpr: fôr
homophone: for
ipa: /foɹ/
note: non-rhotic, horse–hoarse merger
enpr: fô
homophone: for
homophone: faugh
ipa: /fɔː/
ipa: /foː/
Forms: form: fours
Etymology: PIE word
 *kʷetwóres
From Middle English four, from Old English fēower, from Proto-West Germanic *feuwar, from Proto-Germanic *fedwōr, from previous pre-Grimm *petwṓr, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷetwṓr, the neuter form of *kʷetwóres. Doublet of cuatro and quatre.
Cognates include Scots fower, Saterland Frisian fjauer, West Frisian fjouwer, Dutch vier, German Low German veer, German vier, Norwegian Bokmål and Danish fire, Swedish fyra, Gothic 𐍆𐌹𐌳𐍅𐍉𐍂 (fidwōr) and, more distantly, Latin quattuor (whence Spanish cuatro, French quatre), Ancient Greek τέσσαρες (téssares), Irish ceathair, Welsh pedwar, Armenian չորս (čʻors), Lithuanian keturi, Albanian katër, Sanskrit चतुर् (catur).
Senses: glosses: The digit or figure 4; an occurrence thereof.
examples: text: Do you have any more fours? I want to make this a little taller.
glosses: Anything measuring four units, as length.
examples: text: Letters to Sheffield are despatched every morning at six, and arrive every afternoon at ten minutes past four.
ref: 1828, Pigot and Co.'s National Commercial Directory for 1828-9, Comprising a Directory of the Merchants, Bankers, Professional Gentleman … in the Counties of Cheshire, Cumberland …, London; Manchester: J. Pigot & Co., page 767:
text: Frederick, I presume, at this late hour of four, may be snatching a morsel of dinner; […]
ref: 1865, Thomas Carlyle, chapter IX, in History of Friedrich II. of Prussia, Called Frederick the Great, volume VI, London: Chapman and Hall, […], →OCLC:
text: The larger ships picked up the low lying atoll on their radar about four in the morning at distances from 16 to 26 miles.
ref: 1972, George Carroll Dyer, chapter XVII, in The Amphibians Came to Conquer: The Story of Admiral Richmond Kelly Turner, volume 2, U.S. Marine Corps, →OL, page 657:
glosses: Four o'clock.
examples: text: I'll take the threes, fours and fives and go to the playground.
glosses: A person who is four years old.
topics: ball-games
cricket
games
hobbies
lifestyle
sports
glosses: An event in which the batsmen run four times between the wickets or, more often, a batsman hits a ball which bounces on the ground before passing over a boundary, 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.
topics: ball-games
basketball
games
hobbies
lifestyle
sports
glosses: A power forward.
examples: text: The team bought a new four last season.
topics: hobbies
lifestyle
rowing
sports
glosses: Four-man sweep racing shell, with or without a coxswain.
The shell itself.
examples: text: Our four won both races.
topics: hobbies
lifestyle
rowing
sports
glosses: Four-man sweep racing shell, with or without a coxswain.
The crew rowing in a four boat.
examples: text: We got third place in the varsity four.
topics: hobbies
lifestyle
rowing
sports
glosses: Four-man sweep racing shell, with or without a coxswain.
A regatta event for four boats.
examples: text: 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.
ref: 1887, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, A Study in Scarlet, section IV:
glosses: A four-pennyworth of spirits.
Derived terms: english: back slang
translation: back slang
word: rouf
Related terms: word: 4
word: 肆
word: 四
word: Δ΄
word: δ΄
word: IV
word: IIII