fourteen, a. and n.
(fɔəˈtiːn, ˈfɔətiːn)
Forms: 1 féowerténe, -t{yacu}ne, Northumb. -téno, 2 fowertene, 3 feo(u)wertene, 3 furten, fourtine, south. vourtene, (6 fowertene), 4–6 four(e)ten, (4 faurten), 6–7 fourteene, 6– fourteen.
[OE. féowerténe = OFris. fiuwertîne, OS. fiertein (Du. veertein), OHG. fiorzehan (MHG. vierzehen, mod.Ger. vierzehn), ON. fiórtan (Sw. fjorton, Da. fjorten), Goth. fidwōrtaihun: see four and -teen.]
The cardinal number composed of ten and four, represented by the symbols 14, xiv, or XIV.
A. as adj.
1. In concord with the n. expressed.
| c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. Matt. i. 17 From oferfaer babilones wið to crist cneuresua feower-teno. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 5491 Aboute vourtene ȝer king þer after he nas. 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 6552 Omang alle þat þar has bene sene, I fynde wryten paynes fourtene. 1490 Caxton Eneydos xxxi. 119 Whan this foureten persones were come to Crete the kyng made theym to be putte wythin the forsayd house. 1538 Wriothesley Chron. (1875) I. 79 Fowertene yeares past. 1611 Bible 1 Chron. xxv. 5 Fourteene sonnes. 1751 Affect. Narr. Wager 24 Our ill-fated Vessel struck abaft on a sunken Rock, in fourteen Fathom Water. 1894 C. W. Boase Reg. Coll. Exon. p. xxxii, The fellowships were..tenable for rather less than fourteen years. |
† b. (a) fourteen night (rarely fourteen day): a fortnight. Obs.
| a 1000 Laws of Ine §55 Oþ-ðæt feowertyne niht ofer Eastron. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 123 Easter dei þe nu bið to dei on fowertene niht. c 1205 Lay. 28236 Ah feowertene niht fulle Þere læi þa uerde. c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 65/406 And fourtene niȝt þare-aftur-ward. 1477 Surtees Misc. (1888) 27 The purpressures come in this day xiiij day. 1561 Hollybush Hom. Apoth. 39 Do this a fourten night and it shall auoyde. 1726 Lady M. W. Montagu Let. to C'tess Mar 15 Apr., I have been confined this fourteen-night to one floor. |
2. With ellipsis of n.
| 1480 Caxton Chron. Eng. ccxliv. 303 With other tounes fortresses and vyllages in to the nombre of fourtene. 1592 Shakes. Rom. & Jul. i. iii. 13–14 Ile lay fourteene of my teeth..shee's not fourteene. 1685 Baxter Paraphr. N.T. Matt. i. 14, I reduce them to fourteen in the recitation, for memory-sake. 1818 Scott Hrt. Midl. viii, A tall gawky silly-looking boy of fourteen or fifteen. |
† 3. = fourteenth a. Obs.
| c 1300 R. Glouc. (Rolls) App. xx. 261 In þe kinges fourteþe ȝere [v.r. fourtene ȝeer of þe kyng] hure sone henri com Of king dauid of scotlond. c 1430 Freemasonry 245 The fourtene artycul..Scheweth the mayster how he schal don. 1553 Wilson Rhetorike (1567) 35 a, The fowertene of Julie. |
4. Comb., as fourteen-foot a., fourteen feet in length; fourteen-gun a., (a vessel) carrying fourteen guns; † fourteen-shilling piece, the Scottish ‘merk’ (see quot. 1695).
| 1695 Act Priv. Counc. Scot. in Cochran-Patrick Rec. Coinage Scot. II. 252 The value of thretteen shilling four pennies was never put upon the merk peice after they were raised to fourteen shilling, neither were they tearmed therafter merk peices but fourteen shilling peices. 1862 Latham Channel Isl. iii. xvii. (ed. 2) 400 A fourteen-gun schooner..some boats, and forty men constituted the authority. 1890 Boldrewood Col. Reformer (1891) 120 A fourteen-foot whip in your hand. |
B. as n.
1. The abstract number fourteen.
| c 1050 Byrhtferth's Handboc in Anglia (1885) VIII. 302 Twia seofon beoð feowertyne. |
† 2. A fourteen shilling piece: see A. 4. Obs.
| 1693 Sc. Presbyt. Eloq. (1738) 129 The Preacher seeing him in Church, took a Fourteen out of his Pocket. |
3. pl. Candles fourteen to the pound.
| 1883 Goole Weekly Times 14 Sept. 4/5 Dip Candles (Fourteens). |