fortnight
UK /ˈfɔːt.naɪt/ · US /ˈfɔɹt.naɪt/ noun
Forms fortnights fortnith
Synonyms
Etymology
From Middle English fourtenyght, fourtene nyght, from Old English fēowertīene niht (literally “fourteen nights"; the Anglo-Saxons counted by nights), equivalent to fourteen + night. Compare sennight.
Webster’s 1913
Etymology [Contr. fr. fourteen nights, our ancestors reckoning time by nights and winters; so, also, seven nights, sennight, a week.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “fortnight”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details