Misplaced Pages

Revision as of 19:39, 6 July 2021

A fortnight is a unit of time equal to 14 days (2 weeks). The word derives from the Old English term fēowertyne niht, meaning "fourteen nights".

Some wages and salaries are paid on a fortnightly basis; however, in North America it is far more common to use the term biweekly. Neither of these synonymous terms should be confused with semimonthly, which divides a year into exactly 24 periods (12 months × 2), instead of the 26 (≈52 weeks ÷ 2) of fortnightly/biweekly.

Astronomy

In astronomy, a lunar fortnight is half a lunar synodic month, equivalent to the mean period between a full moon and a new moon (and vice versa). This is equal to 14.77 days.

Analogs in other languages

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: in Welsh, the term pythefnos, meaning "15 nights", is used. This is in keeping with the Welsh term for a week, which is wythnos ("eight nights"). In Irish, the term is coicís.
• Similarly in Greek the term δεκαπενθήμερο (dekapenthímero), meaning "15 days", is used.
• The Hindu calendar uses the Sanskrit word "paksha", meaning one half of a lunar month, which is between 14 and 15 solar days.
• In Romance languages there are the terms quincena (or quince días) in Galician and Spanish, quinzena or quinze dies in Catalan and quinze dias or quinzena in Portuguese, quindicina in Italian, quinze jours or quinzaine in French, and chenzinǎ in Romanian, all meaning "a grouping of 15"; there are also the terms bisettimanale in Italian, bisemanal in Spanish, bissemanal in Portuguese, bisetmanal in Catalan, bihebdomadaire in French, and bisǎptǎmânal in Romanian, that literally mean "biweekly".
• Semitic languages have a special "doubling suffix". When added at the end of the word for "week" it changes the meaning to "two weeks". In Hebrew, the single-word שבועיים (shvu′ayim) means exactly "two weeks". Also in Arabic, by adding the common dual suffix to the word for "week", أسبوع, the form أسبوعين (usbu′ayn), meaning "two weeks", is formed.
• Slavic languages: in Czech the terms čtrnáctidenní and dvoutýdenní have the same meaning as "fortnight".

See also

• FFF system
• Half-month
• Sennight

References

1. "Fortnight". The Concise Oxford Dictionary (5th ed.). 1964. p. 480.
2. Senight, sennight or se'night (seven-night), an old word for the week, was still in use in the early 19th century, to judge from Jane Austen's letters.
3. "Australian Government – How much Disability Support Pension do I get?". Archived from the original on 16 April 2008. Retrieved 22 May 2008.
4. Littmann, Mark; Fred Espenak; Ken Willcox (2008). Totality: Eclipses of the Sun. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-953209-4.
5. Weisstein, Eric W. "Synodic Month definition".
6. BBC (16 October 2014). "BBC Wales - Catchphrase". BBC Wales. Retrieved 18 November 2016. Wythnos is a week.
7. "Do You Know How to Say Fortnight in Different Languages?". www.indifferentlanguages.com.

v t e Time measurement and standards
Chronometry Orders of magnitude Metrology
International standards	Coordinated Universal Time offset UT ΔT DUT1 International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service ISO 31-1 ISO 8601 International Atomic Time 12-hour clock 24-hour clock Barycentric Coordinate Time Barycentric Dynamical Time Civil time Daylight saving time Geocentric Coordinate Time International Date Line IERS Reference Meridian Leap second Solar time Terrestrial Time Time zone 180th meridian
Obsolete standards	Ephemeris time Greenwich Mean Time Prime meridian
Time in physics	Absolute space and time Spacetime Chronon Continuous signal Coordinate time Cosmological decade Discrete time and continuous time Proper time Theory of relativity Time dilation Gravitational time dilation Time domain Time-translation symmetry T-symmetry
Horology	Clock Astrarium Atomic clock Complication History of timekeeping devices Hourglass Marine chronometer Marine sandglass Radio clock Watch stopwatch Water clock Sundial Dialing scales Equation of time History of sundials Sundial markup schema
Calendar	Gregorian Hebrew Hindu Holocene Islamic (lunar Hijri) Julian Solar Hijri Astronomical Dominical letter Epact Equinox Intercalation Julian day Leap year Lunar Lunisolar Solar Solstice Tropical year Weekday determination Weekday names
Archaeology and geology	Chronological dating Geologic time scale International Commission on Stratigraphy
Astronomical chronology	Galactic year Nuclear timescale Precession Sidereal time
Other units of time	Instant Flick Shake Jiffy Second Minute Moment Hour Day Week Fortnight Month Year Olympiad Lustrum Decade Century Saeculum Millennium
Related topics	Chronology Duration music Mental chronometry Decimal time Metric time System time Time metrology Time value of money Timekeeper

• Units of time