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Origin and history of four

four(num.)

"1 more than three, twice two; the number which is one more than three; a symbol representing this number;" Old English feower "four; four times," from Proto-Germanic *fedwores (source also of Old Saxon fiuwar, Old Frisian fiower, fiuwer, Frankish *fitter-, Dutch vier, Old High German fior, German vier, Old Norse fjorir, Danish fire, Swedish fyra, Gothic fidwor "four"), from PIE root *kwetwer- "four." The phonetic evolution of the Germanic forms has not been fully explained; Watkins explains the -f- as being from the following number (Modern English five).

To be on all fours is from 1719; earlier on all four (14c.). Four-letter word as a euphemism for one of the short words generally regarded as offensive or objectionable is attested from 1923; four-letter man is recorded from 1920 (apparently as a euphemism for a shit). Compare Latin homo trium litterarum, literally "three-letter man," a euphemism for fur "a thief."

A four-in-hand (1793) was a carriage drawn by four horses driven by one person; in the sense of "loosely tied necktie" it is attested from 1892. To study The History of the Four Kings (1760, compare French Livres des Quatre Rois) contains an old euphemistic slang phrase for "a pack of cards," from the time when card-playing was considered a wicked pastime for students.

Slang 4-1-1 "essential information" (by 1993) is from the telephone number called to get customer information. The four-color problem so called from 1879. The four-minute mile was attained 1954.

Entries linking to four

estate(n.)

early 13c., "rank, standing, condition," from Anglo-French astat, Old French estat "state, position, condition, health, status, legal estate" (13c., Modern French état), from Latin status "state or condition, position, place; social position of the aristocracy," from PIE root *sta- "to stand, make or be firm."

For the unetymological e-, see e-. Sense of "property" is late 14c., from that of "worldly prosperity;" specific application to "landed property" (usually of large extent) is first recorded in American English 1620s. A native word for this was Middle English ethel (Old English æðel) "ancestral land or estate, patrimony." Meaning "collective assets of a dead person or debtor" is from 1830.

The three estates (in Sweden and Aragon, four) conceived as orders in the body politic date from late 14c. In France, they are the clergy, nobles, and townsmen; in England, originally the clergy, barons, and commons, later Lords Spiritual, Lords Temporal, and commons. For Fourth Estate see four.

four-corners(n.)

old form of bowling, 1801, from four + corner (n.). So called because the four pins in it were set at the corners of a square.

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fourth
"next in order after the third; an ordinal numeral; being one of four equal parts into which a whole is regarded as divided;" mid-15c., alteration (by influence of four), of ferthe, from Old English feorða "fourth," from Proto-Germanic *feurthan (source also of Old Saxon fiortho,
quattrocento
"the 15th century as a period in art and architecture," 1847, from Italian quattrocento, literally "four hundred," short for mille quattrocento "one thousand four hundred," in reference to a period beginning in C.E. 1400; see four + hundred. The Italian pattern (also in trecento,
sixty-four
"eight times eight; one more than sixty-three; a numeral representing this;" see sixty + four. The phrase sixty-four dollar question "crucial question, most difficult question" is attested in general use from 1942, from the popular radio quiz show "Take It or Leave It" (debuted 1
quadruped
"a four-footed animal," especially "a four-footed mammal," 1640s, from French quadrupède (16c.), from Latin quadrupes (genitive...quadrupedis) "four-footed, on all fours," also, as a noun, "a four-footed animal," from quadri- "four" (from PIE root *kwetwer...- "four") + pes "foot" (from PIE root *ped- "foot")....The adjective is attested from 1741, "four-footed, having four limbs fitted for sustaining the body and locomotion, habitually...
quadrangle
late 14c., "a plane figure having four angles; a rectangle, square, etc.," from Old French quadrangle (13c.) and directly...from Late Latin quadrangulum "four-sided figure," noun use of neuter of Latin adjective quadrangulus "having four corners...," from Latin quattuor "four" (from PIE root *kwetwer- "four") + angulus "angle" (see angle (n.))....Meaning "four-sided court nearly surrounded by buildings" is from 1590s....
quaternary
early 15c., "consisting of four parts," from Latin quaternarius "of four each, containing four," from quaterni "four each..., by fours," from quater "four times," related to quattuor "four" (from PIE root *kwetwer- "four")....Also as a noun, "the number four" (mid-15c.), from Latin quaternarius....
quadrivium
"arithmetic, music, geometry, astronomy" (the four branches of mathematics, according to the Pythagoreans), by 1751, from...Latin quadrivium, which meant "place where four roads meet, crossroads," from quadri- "four" (from PIE root *kwetwer- "four...attested from mid-15c. in English with the sense of "belonging to the quadrivium," late 15c. with the sense of "having four...roads, having four ways meeting in a point."...
post
"a timber of considerable size set upright," from Old English post "pillar, doorpost," and from Old French post "post, upright beam," both from Latin postis "door, post, doorpost," in Medieval Latin "a beam, rod, pole," which is perhaps from Vulgar Latin *por- "forth," a variant
spot
c. 1200, "moral stain;" by mid-14c. as "speck, stain left by something on a surface;" probably at least in part from a variant of Old English splott "a spot, blot, patch (of land)," and partly from or related to Middle Dutch spotte "spot, speck." Other cognates are East Frisian s
stop
Middle English stoppen, "obstruct (a passage) with a physical barrier; close up by filling, stuffing, or plugging," from Old English -stoppian (in forstoppian "to stop up, stifle"), a general West Germanic word, cognate with Old Saxon stuppon, West Frisian stopje, Middle Low Germ

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