forty

[ fawr-tee ]
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noun,plural for·ties.
  1. a cardinal number, ten times four.

  2. a symbol for this number, as 40 or XL or XXXX.

  1. a set of this many persons or things.

  2. forties, the numbers, years, degrees, or the like, from 40 through 49, as in referring to numbered streets, indicating the years of a lifetime or of a century, or degrees of temperature: His office is in the West Forties. Her parents are in their forties. The temperature will be in the forties.

adjective
  1. amounting to 40 in number.

Origin of forty

1
before 950; Middle English fourti,Old English fēowertig (cognate with Old Frisian fiuwertich,Old High German fiorzug,German vierzig). See four, -ty1

Words Nearby forty

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How to use forty in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for forty

forty

/ (ˈfɔːtɪ) /


nounplural -ties
  1. the cardinal number that is the product of ten and four: See also number (def. 1)

  2. a numeral, 40, XL, etc, representing this number

  1. something representing, represented by, or consisting of 40 units

determiner
    • amounting to forty: forty thieves

    • (as pronoun): there were forty in the herd

Origin of forty

1
Old English fēowertig

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