forty

Everyday

Forty is the number 40, four tens. tree →

In the lessons

maths: a number word that gives a quantity; 40 = 4 × 10 = 5 × 8; forty minutes, forty pages; everyday life: forty winks means a short nap

Examples

• There are forty pupils in the hall. tree →
• A box holds forty pencils. tree →
• He ran forty metres. tree →
• Forty minus twelve is twenty-eight. tree →
• The lesson lasts forty minutes. tree →
• Forty is double twenty. tree →
• Grandpa took forty winks after lunch. tree →
• "Six, eight, ten--twenty, forty," said he. tree →

Note

Read it as the number 40. Trap: spelled «forty», not «fourty»; do not confuse with fourteen (14).

In Jewish tradition

It is a number that often marks a time of testing or change, such as the forty days of rain and forty days of spying.

Interpretation. Tradition notes forty days of the Flood, forty days Moses was on Sinai and forty years in the desert as periods of change and preparation.

Examples

• And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights. (Torah GEN.7.12, JPS 1917) tree →
• And they returned from spying out the land at the end of forty days. (Torah NUM.13.25, JPS 1917) tree →
• And forty days were fulfilled for him; for so are fulfilled the days of embalming. (Torah GEN.50.3, JPS 1917) tree →
• And the land had rest forty years. (Prophets JDG.3.11, JPS 1917) tree →
• And he had judged Israel forty years. (Prophets 1SA.4.18, JPS 1917) tree →
• The children of Azmaveth, forty and two. (Writings EZR.2.24, JPS 1917) tree →

Note

Read it as the number 40. Trap: spelled «forty», not «fourty»; do not confuse with fourteen (14).