Fortnight

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The fortnight is a unit of time equivalent to fourteen days. The word derives from the Old English feorwertyne niht, meaning "fourteen nights".[1]

The word is common in Britain, Ireland and many Commonwealth countries such as India and Australia where many wages, salaries and most social security benefits are paid on a fortnightly basis.[2] The fortnight is rarely used in the United States, but is used regionally in Canada. It is also the base unit of time in the humorous FFF System of units.

In many languages, there is no single word for a two-week period and the equivalents of "two weeks" or "fourteen days" have to be used. Payroll systems may use the term bi-weekly in reference to pay periods every two weeks. In Spanish, Italian, French and in Portuguese, there are the terms quincena, quindici giorni, quinzaine and quinzena, all meaning "fifteen days". Similarly, in Greek, the term dekapenthimero meaning "fifteen days" is also used. In Arabic the short term "أسبوعان" (two weeks) is commonly used and the longer term "خمسة عشر يوماً" (fifteen days) is used to a lesser extent. In Hebrew the term "שבועיים" (two weeks) is commonly used.

[edit] References

  1. ^ The Concise Oxford Dictionary, 5th Edition, 1964, p. 480
  2. ^ Australian Government - How much Disability Support Pension do I get?. Retrieved on 2008-05-22.
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