four

Etymology

From Middle English four, from Old English fēower, from Proto-West Germanic *feuwar, from Proto-Germanic *fedwōr, from previous pre-Grimm *petwṓr, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷetwṓr, the neuter form of *kʷetwóres. Doublet of cuatro and quatre. Cognates include West Frisian fjouwer, Dutch and German vier, Norwegian Bokmål and Danish fire, Swedish fyra, Gothic 𐍆𐌹𐌳𐍅𐍉𐍂 (fidwōr) and, more distantly, Latin quattuor (whence Spanish cuatro, French quatre), Ancient Greek τέσσαρες (téssares), Irish ceathair, Armenian չորս (čʿors), Lithuanian keturi, Albanian katër, Sanskrit चतुर् (catur).

num

1. A numerical value equal to 4; the number after three and before five; two plus two. This many dots (••••)
   There are four seasons: winter, spring, summer and autumn.
2. Describing a set or group with four elements.

noun

1. (countable) The digit or figure 4; an occurrence thereof.
2. (countable) Anything measuring four units, as length.
   Do you have any more fours? I want to make this a little taller.
3. Four o'clock.
   Letters to Sheffield are despatched every morning at six, and arrive every afternoon at ten minutes past four. 1828, Pigot and Co.'s National Commercial Directory for 1828-9, Comprising a Directory of the Merchants, Bankers, Professional Gentleman … in the Counties of Cheshire, Cumberland …, London, Manchester: J. Pigot & Co., page 767
   The larger ships picked up the low lying atoll on their radar about four in the morning at distances from 16 to 26 miles. 1972, George Carroll Dyer, chapter XVII, in The Amphibians Came to Conquer: The Story of Admiral Richmond Kelly Turner, volume 2, U.S. Marine Corps, →OL, page 657
4. A person who is four years old.
   I'll take the threes, fours and fives and go to the playground.
5. (cricket, countable) An event in which the batsmen run four times between the wickets or, more often, a batsman hits a ball which bounces on the ground before passing over a boundary, resulting in an award of 4 runs for the batting team. If the ball does not bounce before passing over the boundary, a six is awarded instead.
6. (basketball, countable) A power forward.
7. (rowing) Four-man sweep racing shell, with or without a coxswain.
   1. The shell itself.
      The team bought a new four last season.
   2. The crew rowing in a four boat.
      Our four won both races.
   3. (colloquial) A regatta event for four boats.
      We got third place in the varsity four.
8. (obsolete) A four-pennyworth of spirits.
   I was a-strollin' down, thinkin' between ourselves how uncommon handy a four of gin hot would be, when suddenly the glint of a light caught my eye in the window of that same house. 1887, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, A Study in Scarlet, section IV