forty

Pluralforties

1. 1
   numeral

   The cardinal number after thirty-nine and before forty-one, written as 40 or as XL in Roman numerals.

   The renovated stadium holds just over forty thousand fans.

   He counted forty sheep before he finally drifted off to sleep.

   Note

   The spelling is the trap here. Middle English wrote fourti alongside feortiȝ, but the modern word settled on forty, without the u, so fourty is a misspelling. Behind both forms stands Old English fēowertiġ. Twoscore reaches the same number by counting in twenties, and it can stand in where forty would, though it now reads as a deliberate choice rather than an everyday one.

2. 2
   nounslangUScountable

   A bottle of beer holding forty fluid ounces.

   She picked up a forty on the way to the party.

   The guys passed around a couple of forties after the game.

   Note

   American slang that turns a measurement into a noun: the count of fluid ounces became the name of the bottle. It behaves like any count noun, so you can have two forties. Luniz's 1995 track "I Got 5 on It" uses it as easy party shorthand for the bottle a friend should bring along. Outside casual talk, "a forty-ounce bottle" says the same thing plainly.

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