four

four — number

1. the whole number that comes after three and before five — used when counting thi

1.numberA1
Definition

the whole number that comes after three and before five — used when counting things, telling time, giving someone's age, or talking about quantities of any kind

Example

Saira invited four friends to her birthday party last Saturday.

cardinal number specifying quantity

There are four seasons in a year, each lasting about three months.

Common collocations
  • four years old
  • four o'clock
  • four times
  • four legs
  • four seasons
  • four corners

Common Mistakes

My daughter is fourth years old.
My daughter is four years old.
'four' is a cardinal number (quantity); 'fourth' is an ordinal number (position in a sequence).
She bought for apples.
She bought four apples.
'four' and 'for' sound the same but 'four' is the number and 'for' is a preposition.

four — noun

Word family

  • fourth
    adjectiveA1
  • fourth
    nounA2
  • fourteen
    numberA1
  • forty
    numberA1
  • fourthly
    adverbB2
  • fourfold
    adjectiveC1
  • fourfold
    adverbC1
  • foursome
    nounB2
  • fourth-grade
    adjectiveB1

Synonym discussion

Sense: number/1

Each of these words relates to the number four but serves a different grammatical role and context. 'Quarter' means one of four equal parts (a quarter of an hour, a quarter of a cake) — it is a fraction, not a full count. 'Quartet' refers specifically to a group of four performers (a string quartet) or any set of four things in formal contexts. 'Quadruple' works as a verb meaning to increase by four times (profits quadrupled) or an adjective meaning four times as much (quadruple the amount). 'Foursome' is an informal noun for a group of four people, especially in social or sporting settings (a golf foursome). Use 'four' itself for straightforward counting; reach for these other words when you need to specify a fraction, a group, a multiplier, or a team of exactly four.

quarter ↗quartet ↗quadruplefoursome

Common collocations

Nouns

  • four years
  • four days
  • four people
  • four hours
  • four times
  • four o'clock
  • number four

Phrases

  • on all fours
  • four by four
  • the big four

Prepositions

  • in fours
  • by fours
  • groups of four

Etymology

Proto-Indo-EuropeanProto-GermanicOld EnglishEnglish

Comes from Old English 'fēower', which traces back through Proto-Germanic '*fedwōr' to the Proto-Indo-European root '*kʷetwóres'. The same ancient root gave rise to Latin 'quattuor' (source of French 'quatre', Spanish 'cuatro') and Greek 'tettares'. The word has remained remarkably stable in sound and meaning across thousands of years of language development.