| 释义 |
fourthadj.n. Origin: A word inherited from Germanic. Etymology: Cognate with or formed similarly to Old Saxon fiorða (Middle Low German vērde ), Middle Dutch, Dutch vierde , Old High German fiordo (Middle High German vierde , German vierte ), Old Icelandic fjórði , Old Swedish fiärþe (Swedish fjärde ), Old Danish fiarthæ (Danish fjerde ) < the Germanic base of four adj. + the Germanic base of -th suffix2; compare similarly Sanskrit caturtha , ancient Greek τέταρτος (see tetarto- comb. form), classical Latin quartus (see quart n.2), Old Church Slavonic četvrĭtŭ, Old Prussian ketwerts, Lithuanian ketvirtas.The β. forms show remodelling of the first element after later forms of the cardinal numeral four adj. The ordinal numeral corresponding to the cardinal numeral four adj. and n. A. adj.the world > relative properties > number > specific numbers > four > [adjective] > fourth c950 Matt. xiv. 25 Ðiu feorða waccen næhtes. c1175 13 Honora patrem tuum et matrem tuam þet wes þe feowerþe heste þet godalmihti het. a1325 (c1250) (1968) l. 157 Forð glod ðis ferðe dais nigt, Ðo cam ðe fifte dais ligt. c1330 R. Mannyng (1810) 82 In his ferþe ȝere he went tille Aluerton. 1486 E j b The fowrith yere a Stagge call hym by any way. c1540 (?a1400) v. 2007 The furthe day fell all þe fuerse wyndes. 1588 A. King tr. P. Canisius 109 Euerie fourt ferie (callid wenesday). 1650 J. Row & J. Row (1842) 127 The ferd Acte condemned the Presbiterie as ane judgement not allowed by the King's law. 1658 J. Playford (new ed.) 76 In Tuning of your Violin..the Basse or fourth string is G sol re ut. 2. the world > relative properties > number > specific numbers > four > [noun] > that which is fourth c1175 39 Þat forðe is þat þu scalt wakien for þines drihtenes luue. a1300 Ten Commandm. 33 in (1862) 16 Þe verþ, loue þi neiȝbore as þine owe bodi. 1377 W. Langland B. xiv. 294 Þe fierthe is a fortune þat florissheth þe soule Wyth sobrete fram all synne. 1435 in W. H. Stevenson (1883) II. 360 And ilk of thre payis, iiijs. viijd., and ye forte, iijs. 1562 W. Bullein Bk. Simples f. 52v, in It is hotte and drie, in the thirde degree, and in the beginnyng of the fowerth. 1669 S. Sturmy i. 33 Three Right Lines being given, To find a fourth in proportion to them. the world > time > particular time > an anniversary > [noun] > of battles, wars, treaties, etc. the world > time > period > a day or twenty-four hours > specific days > [noun] > specific day of a month 1777 8 625 There is due..a bill for material, workmanship, &c. furnished for the fire works on the 4 July, the sum of 102 69/90 dollars.] 1779 VI. 317 Toasts were drank, to wit:..the Fourth of July, '76: The memorable era of American Independence. 1807 M. L. Weems Let. in (1929) II. 369 From these reflections..we may collect some good fourth-of-July ideas. 1827 H. W. Longfellow in S. Longfellow (1891) I. viii. 121 We did not celebrate the ‘glorious Fourth’ here. 1830 S. Breck (1877) 91 On the Fourth, being a national holiday, there was a great parade on the Common. 1834 1 156 I do not know that the celebration of a Fourth of July in a country village has ever been thought worthy of appearing in print. 1853 19 473/1 Fourth-of-Julyisms fled to the stump or the national anniversary barbecues. 1854 W. G. Simms xiii. 253 Ordinarily admirable, our dinner on the glorious Fourth was worthy of the occasion. 1872 E. Eggleston xi. 76 No more electin' presidents.., no more Fourths,..no more nothin. 1874 B. F. Taylor ii. i. 183 A Fourth-of-Julyism has somehow become an object of contempt. 1888 J. R. Lowell (1890) VI. 202 This is what may be called the Fourth of July period of our history. 1891 C. T. C. James 74 As I write I picture, here in my lonely study, bright Fourths of June. 1894 2 Jan. 6/1 The amounts passing through on the 4ths of the months for 1893. 1909 ‘O. Henry’ xiii. 206 It reminds me..of a Fourth I helped to celebrate down in Salvador. 1967 D. Francis viii. 94 I'm glad you could take me at such short notice, with the Fourth coming up this weekend. the world > relative properties > number > specific numbers > four > [noun] > division into four > a fourth part c1000 (Corpus Cambr.) iii. 1 Feorþan dæles rica. c1350 1284 Þe furþe del of a furlong. ?a1400 946 The fourtedele a furlange be-twene þis he walkes. 1480 W. Caxton ccxxiii. 221 Yet saw I neuer the ferth part of the wynge fyght. 1487 (a1380) J. Barbour (St. John's Cambr.) ix. 593 For gif thai fled, thai vist that thai Suld nocht weill ferd [1489 Adv. feyrd] part get away. 1585 T. Washington tr. N. de Nicolay ii. v. 35 Two buts of wine of Chio, two fourth parts of muscadell. 1893 Stevenson in 11 Apr. 6/3 Of the remaining three-fourth parts of my said father's estate, one-fourth part of the three-fourth parts I give and bequeath [etc.]. B. n.the world > relative properties > number > ratio or proportion > fraction > [noun] > decimal > point or place the world > relative properties > measurement > measurement by weighing > [noun] > unit or denomination of weight > smallest unit or grain > specific parts of grain 1594 T. Blundeville i. xxvii. f. 30 They diuided euery whole thing that had no usuall parts into 60. minutes, and euery minute into 60. seconds, and euery second into 60. thirds, and so forth vnto 60. fourthes, fifts, sixts [etc.]. 1608 R. Norton tr. S. Stevin sig. Cij 3(1) 7(2) 5(3) 9(4), that is to say, 3 Primes, 7 Seconds, 5 Thirds, 9 Fourths..of..valew. a1690 S. Jeake (1696) 209 As to set down 3 Fourths, and 4 Fifths, thus, 0,00034. 1817 R. Ruding I. 197 (table) Pieces of Gold..v.s. Scottish Weights. 1 denier..23 grains..7 primes..18 seconds..8 thirds..10 fourths. ¾. the world > relative properties > number > specific numbers > four > [noun] > division into four > a fourth part 1741 tr. Marquis d'Argens xxxi. 229 The idle Fables and gross Lyes, with which Three-fourths of the European Authors stuff their Works. 1892 E. K. Blyth in 93 489/1 The cases requiring pleadings are not more at the outside than a fourth of the contested cases. society > leisure > the arts > music > musical sound > pitch > interval > [noun] > fourth society > leisure > the arts > music > musical sound > harmony or sounds in combination > chord > [noun] > other chords 1597 T. Morley 71 Phi. Which distances make discord or dissonant sounds? Ma. All such as doe not make concords: as a second, a fourth. 1654 J. Playford 31 This Rule observe for a fourth or fifth &c. 1788 T. Cavallo in (Royal Soc.) 78 238 When those sounds are considered with respect to the first, they are called..the prime or key-note..fourth, fourth major, [etc.]. 1869 F. A. G. Ouseley ii. 6 The fourth, which in strict counterpoint is always treated as a discord. 1879 G. Grove I. (at cited word) Fourth is an interval comprising two whole tones and a semitone. It is called a fourth because four notes are passed through in going from one extreme of the interval to the other. the mind > goodness and badness > inferiority or baseness > inferior thing > [noun] > plural 1832 G. R. Porter 186 Crown glass is sold, according to its quality, under four different denominations—firsts, seconds, thirds, and fourths. 1890 7 Jan. 2/7 Butter..classified as follows:—Firsts, 0; seconds, 9; thirds, 36; fourths, 9. the world > relative properties > number > specific numbers > four > [adverb] > by or in fours c1430 (1922) 17 First thow most compt the figures by fourthes, that is to sey in the place of thousandes. the world > relative properties > number > specific numbers > four > [noun] > group of four > persons > one completing a group of four society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > card game > [noun] > card-player > first, last, etc., player 1803 I. 155 He..insisted upon Marlow's leaving with him to come and make up a rubber for his sister, knowing he could depend upon me for a fourth. 1841 C. Dickens 10 Feb. (1969) II. 209 Browne..dines with me... The gay and festive Thompson also joins us. Will you make a fourth? 1864 C. Dickens (1865) I. ii. iv. 196 [He] implores to be asked to..make a fourth at the play. 1902 E. Glyn 159 The men played Bridge. Augustus made one of the fourths. 1959 T. S. Eliot ii. 43 I'll feel more confidence after a fortnight..of people not staring..or wanting a fourth at bridge. society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > vehicles according to means of motion > vehicle moving on wheels > [noun] > parts of vehicle moving on wheels > gear > specific gear 1900 J. S. V. Bickford §1173 Changing down. By this we mean changing from a high speed to a lower (fourth to third, third to second etc.). 1968 12 Sept. 30/1 By 4,500 rpm (73 mph in fourth, almost 80 mph in fifth) this resonance has practically died away. society > education > educational administration > examination > [noun] > marks > specific marks 1911 X. 42/1 In the 15th century the candidates for the mastership of arts were divided into three classes..while a fourth, which was not published, contained the names of those who failed.] 1914 C. Mackenzie II. iii. xi. 714 I shall never get my Blue. I shall get a fourth in Greats. 1914 C. Mackenzie II. iii. xii. 746 If he stays up ten years he'll never get a Fourth. 1945 E. Waugh i. i. 24 You want either a first or a fourth. There is no value in anything between. 1946 C. L. Wrenn (1967) 163 The consciousness in the minds of the Oxford authorities that Sweet had obtained a ‘fourth’ in Greats. Compounds C1. society > armed hostility > hostilities in the air > air force > [noun] 1901 15 Apr. It is somewhat remarkable that England, the only great nation to adopt mounted infantry as a kind of fourth arm, should have been the one to try conclusions with a race of mounted infantry. 1910 28 Aug. c2/6 Something like a sham battle between aeroplanes will then..be seen. Everybody is discussing the possession by the French of the ‘fourth arm for war’, the others being infantry, artillery, and cavalry. 1914 4 Sept. 312/2 Aircraft in Warfare: the Dawn of the Fourth Arm. By F. W. Lanchester. 1940 62 This was the first occasion on which the Civil Defence Forces had been recognized as a Fourth Arm. society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > kinsman or relation > child > relationship to parent > [adjective] > fourth-born 1559 W. Baldwin et al. Clarence viii The fowerth borne. 1592 W. Warner (rev. ed.) viii. lx. 176 Gylford Dudly fourth-borne Sonne vnto Northumberland Had married her. the world > time > period > a day or twenty-four hours > specific days > [noun] > Wednesday 1697 S. Sewall 14 Sept. (1973) I. 377 Fourth-day was a storm, else might have husbanded it so as to have come to Rehoboth that night. 1820 J. H. Wiffen in A. A. Watts (1884) I. 102 She..must necessarily lay the matter before the monthly meeting next fourth day. the world > space > extension in space > measurable spatial extent > [noun] > a) dimension(s) > supposed or assumed dimension 1875 G. H. Lewes II. 279 We have no experiences out of which a fourth dimension could be constructed. 1895 W. D. Howells 202 The fourth dimension of the poem which is not yet made palpable or visible. 1904 B. Russell in 13 574 The merit of speculations on the fourth dimension..is chiefly that they stimulate the imagination, and free the intellect from the shackles of the actual. 1934 Aug. 239/1 The Fourth and higher Dimensions. 1964 C. Chaplin xvii. 303 Wells said that as a struggling young writer he had written one of the first scientific articles touching on the fourth dimension. the mind > mental capacity > expectation > feeling of wonder, astonishment > quality of inspiring wonder > [adjective] > with quality of strangeness 1902 E. Carpenter (ed. 7) ii. 70 An immaterial mediation or a fourth-dimensional mediation..would simply remove the problem out of the regions of scientific analysis. 1908 28 July 2/1 A forcible proof of superhuman or fourth-dimensional power. 1921 Oct. 55 These few crude remarks on fourth-dimensionalism and the time-enigma are ventured solely as the tentative opinions of a layman. the world > action or operation > advantage > usefulness > use (made of things) > [adjective] > re-used > second-, etc., hand 1598 J. Marston i. ii. sig. C2 Tail'd, and retail'd, till to the pedlers packe, The fourth-hand ward-ware comes. society > communication > journalism > journal > matter of or for journals > [noun] > article > other editorials > specifically in The Times 1946 28 June 5/6 Those of your readers who are under a perpetual obligation to the charm of the fourth leading article may like to be reminded of Dr. Johnson's praise of the Scottish breakfast.] 1949 ‘M. Innes’ vi. 64 He picked up The Times... He was mildly diverted by the fourth leader. 1964 E. S. Turner 165 The Times..has allowed its Fourth Leader writer, more than once, to drool over the temptation the alarm provides. 1966 6 Oct. 9/6 ‘If it was not so tragic it would make a fine fourth leader for The Times,’ said a seasoned observer of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association conferences that meet round the world annually. the world > life > the body > nervous system > nerve > specific nerves > [noun] > pairs of cranial nerves > specific cranial nerves 1681 S. Pordage tr. T. Willis Descr. & Use Nerves in xxi. 140 The fourth Conjugation of Nerves (which we call rightly the Fourth by order and succession, although it is accounted the eighth and last by Fallopius) hath a diverse origine from all the rest. 1685 S. Collins II. (Table xlviii) The Pathetic, or Fourth pair of Nerves. 1858 H. Gray 478 The Fourth, or trochlear nerve, is the smallest of the cranial nerves. 1890 J. S. Billings Trochlear nerve,..fourth cranial nerve, the motor nerve for the superior oblique muscle of the eye. 1963 S. Brock & H. P. Krieger (ed. 4) xii. 189 The superior oblique muscle [of the eye] is innervated by the fourth nerve. society > authority > rule or government > politics > British politics > British party politics > [noun] > other British parties 1880 H. Wolff Let. 29 Sept. in W. S. Churchill (1906) I. 166 My dear Randolph,—After you left yesterday I received two very handsome tributes to the Fourth Party. 1897 J. McCarthy V. 27 Now came Lord Randolph with his new group, having its distinct individual purpose, and it claimed to be recognised as the Fourth party. 1966 R. S. Churchill I. iii. 44 This led to the formation of the Fourth Party—Lord Randolph Churchill, Sir Henry Drummond Wolff, Mr John Gorst, with Mr Arthur Balfour, Lord Salisbury's nephew, in loose attendance. society > leisure > dancing > ballet > [noun] > positions 1884 D. Anderson 10 Fourth position, put out right foot in a straight line with left toe, right heel about four inches from left toe. 1957 G. B. L. Wilson 124 In the fourth position..one foot is placed before the other in an extension of the first position with the weight evenly distributed, both feet being fully turned out and separated by a distance of about one foot. 1828 A. Sherburne (1831) i. 24 My share was..from thirty to forty gallons of fourth proof Jamaica rum. 1835 J. F. Cooper (1860) vi. 92 Those parts..being indicated by touches of red, nearly as bright as Fourth-proof brandy. a1861 T. Winthrop (1862) ix. 91 I'd seen 'em gettin' up the sham kind [of miracle],..and I knowed the fourth-proof article. the world > life > the body > nervous system > cerebrospinal axis > brain > parts of brain > [noun] > ventricles > specific ventricles 1578 J. Banister viii. f. 100v The fourth ventricle is not much capable, and is comprehended of the thinne Membran. 1685 S. Collins II. (Table xlix) The Scobs which makes the fourth Ventricle. 1848 (ed. 5) II. 723 The fourth ventricle, or ventricle of the cerebellum. 1962 (ed. 33) 956 The cavity of the rhombencephalon is expanded to form the fourth ventricle. society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > the theatre or the stage > a theatre > stage > [noun] > proscenium 1807 L. Hunt 60 The stage appears to be his room, of which the audience compose the fourth wall. 1910 E. F. Spence v. 111 That fourth wall, the existence of which Mr. Jerome K. Jerome rather quaintly..suggested by the fender and fireirons laid in front of the foot~lights. 1959 4 June 997/2 His music-hall experience made him aware of the artificiality of the ‘fourth wall’ which in the legitimate theatre separates the stage from the auditorium: the music-hall comedian speaks directly to the audience. 1967 19 Apr. 6/4 In the last act, Andrey..breaks the fourth wall and delivers his assault..straight out to the audience. the world > time > instruments for measuring time > watch > [noun] > parts of 1884 F. J. Britten (new ed.) 106 Fourth Wheel, the wheel in a watch that drives the escape pinion, and to the arbor of which the seconds hand is attached. 1689 No. 2453/2 Their Majesties Ship the Nonsuch, a small fourth Rate of 36 Guns. 1694 No. 3021/3 This day were Launched..two new fourth Rate Ships. 1857 T. Hughes i. vi. 133 The fourth form are uncertain in their belief. 1857 T. Hughes i. vii. 155 [A] fourth-form boy. 1889 7 Mar. 190 More sham than school, taught by fourth-rate teachers, because they are cheap. Derivatives the world > relative properties > number > specific numbers > four > [adverb] > for the fourth time the world > relative properties > number > specific numbers > four > [adverb] > in the fourth place 1526 W. Bonde i. sig. Cii Fourthly, they muste truste onely in the grace & mercy of god. 1613 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas (new ed.) (title page) Now fourthly corr: & augm. 1773 247/2 Fourthly, Because [etc.]. Draft additions April 20101963 6 153/2 The new fourth-generation computers will be limited mainly by the uncertainty principle associated with any form of wave motion. 1986 G. Johnson xii. 230 The fourth generation, which has only just begun, consists of machines made using a technology called VLSI—very large-scale integration. 1989 M. Owen 64 We were..Mike's first students to use the new gliders, his previous freshers having been taught on the slightly twitchier fourth generation Polaris Deltas. 1991 (U.K. ed.) July 56/2 (advt.) Cephalosporin, a fourth-generation antibiotic. 2008 21 Mar. b6/3 The spectrum might help AT&T transition to a fourth-generation of broadband. Draft additions September 20161974 R. F. Gildenberg ii. 28 Many companies do not have well-documented programs written in a third or fourth generation language. 1991 M. Benedikt (1993) 398 From the early arcane machine code to today's high-level, fourth generation languages..software has become increasingly easier to conceptualize, build, and use. 2005 D. Draheim & G. Weber i. 5 Fourth generation languages are typically tightly integrated into single-vendor platforms. Draft additions June 20161980 14 June (Sports section) g6/2 We have a fourth official at each game but all he does is watch. 1999 (Nexis) 24 Apr. 3 The match was halted when referee Durkin left the field to be treated by Jim Walker on what looked like a knee injury. Linesman Pettitt was brought on to replace Durkin while the fourth official took over on the line. 2010 16 Oct. (Sports Weekend section) 5/1 We were still a goal up when the fourth official put up the sign for four minutes of injury-time. This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1897; most recently modified version published online March 2022). <  adj.n.c950 |
