Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. The ordinal number matching the number four in a series.
- n. One of four equal parts.
- n. Music A tone four degrees above or below a given tone in a diatonic scale.
- n. Music The interval between two such tones.
- n. Music The harmonic combination of these tones.
- n. Music The subdominant of a scale or key.
- n. The transmission gear or gear ratio used to produce forward speeds next higher to those of third in a motor vehicle.
- n. The Fourth of July; Independence Day. Used with the: went to a parade on the Fourth.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Next after the third: an ordinal numeral.
- n. The quotient of unity divided by four; one of four equal parts of anything; a quarter: as, three fourths (¾) of an acre.
- n. In early English law, a fourth part of the rents of the year, or of movables, or both, granted or levied by way of tax.
- n. In music A tone four diatonic degrees above or below any given tone.
- n. The interval between any tone and a tone four degrees distant from it.
- n. The harmonic combination of two such tones.
- n. In a scale, the fourth tone from the bottom; the subdominant: solmizated fa, as F in the scale of C, or D in that of A. The typical interval of the fourth is that between the first and fourth tones of a scale, acoustically represented by the ratio 3:4—that is, in number of vibrations— and equal to two diatonic steps and a half. Such a fourth is called
perfect or major; a fourth one half step shorter is calleddiminished or minor; a fourth one half step longer is called augmented, extreme, sharp, or superfluous. The perfect fourth is the second most perfect consonance after the octave, and the next to the fifth.
Wiktionary
- adj. The ordinal form of number four.
- n. not used in the plural The person or thing in the fourth position.
- n. A quarter, one of four equal parts of a whole.
- n. not used in the plural The fourth gear of an engine.
- n. music A musical interval which spans four degrees of the diatonic scale, for example C to F (C D E F).
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. Next in order after the third; the ordinal of four.
- adj. Forming one of four equal parts into which anything may be divided.
- n. One of four equal parts into which one whole may be divided; the quotient of a unit divided by four.
- n. (Mus.) The interval of two tones and a semitone, embracing four diatonic degrees of the scale; the subdominant of any key.
- n. One coming next in order after the third.
WordNet 3.0
- n. the musical interval between one note and another four notes away from it
- adj. coming next after the third and just before the fifth in position or time or degree or magnitude
- adv. in the fourth place
- n. following the third position; number four in a countable series
- n. one of four equal parts
Etymologies
- Middle English fourthe, from Old English fēortha; see kwetwer- in Indo-European roots. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Thus, 104603 means that we place a pig in the first row of the _first_ column, in no row of the _second_ column, in the fourth row of the _third_ column, in the sixth row of the _fourth_ column, in no row of the _fifth_ column, and in the third row of the”
“The term fourth estate is frequently attributed to the nineteenth century historian Carlyle, though he himself seems to have attributed it to Edmund Burke: Burke said there were Three Estates in Parliament; but, in the Reporters 'Gallery yonder, there sat a Fourth Estate more important than they all.”
“Thus far we have treated of the meaning of the term fourth dimension as it is used in mathematics.”
“BP has repeatedly promised to pay all "legitimate claims" for loss and damage as a result of the Gulf oil spill, now vying for the title fourth biggest oil spill in history at 2.3 million barrels of crude over the past two months.”
“I also have a room where three walls are pale lavender and the fourth is a dark wine red.”
“There was what we called a "fourth wall" — you never got to be a part of the process.”
The Voice (and Former TRL) Host Carson Daly: The Founding Father of Social TV?
“Decades ago, Hassell coined the term fourth world music to describe his sound, that's both primitive and futuristic.”
“And the fourth is the attractiveness of our country -- ensuring that people and companies want to come here, stay here, and grow here.”
“Principals and teachers around the country are growing increasingly concerned with what they call the fourth-grade slump.”
“Practically speaking, the top three make the team and the fourth is an alternate.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘fourth’.
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EU Buzz - Lisbon Treaty
All words of the Lisbon Treaty
(Persons' names, foreign and grammatical words have been eliminated, MWEs have been split up into individual words. Capitalization has been retained if r...conferral, stateless, person, voting, right, subsidiarity, Latvia, Malta, Slovenia, Lithuania, Finland, Estonia and 2614 more...
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MUSIC - ALL TERMS
With focus on non-classical styles, but not excluding terms of the latter.
banjo, accompaniment, acoustic bass, bass guitar, bass clef, ground, brass, cornet, Mute, alto saxophone, baritone saxophone, arrangement and 866 more...
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eggplantia5's Words
scintillate, marvel, cranberry, oscillate, triumph, bamboozle, grimace, magical, book, hexagon, cipher, compendium and 2727 more...
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Basic English Vocabulary
Very basic words for ESL students.
contemplate, container, consumer, consultant, consensus, conscious, conscience, connection, confusion, confront, conflict, confident and 4334 more...
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editorial proj.
words to be considered for a magazine name, or words for inspiration for the magazine
soiree, morose, somber, sullen, d'autre, sin, experimental, perfection, edgy, hallow, fourth, rigid and 38 more...
Tweets
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