Fortnight: Two Weeks, Counted in Nights

A fortnight means two weeks. Learn how to use it, why it sounds old-fashioned, and why the word is really 'fourteen nights'.

What Does Fortnight Mean?

A fortnight is a period of two weeks, which is fourteen days. It is most common in British English. Americans usually say two weeks.

🔊 Pronunciation

FORT-nite

The stress is on the first part. The -night at the end sounds like the word night.

🗣️ Natural Examples

The course lasts a fortnight, so pack for two weeks.
We'll be back in a fortnight.
The meeting was moved to Thursday fortnight.

🛠️ How to Use It

Fortnight is a countable noun, so you can say a fortnight, two fortnights or a fortnight's holiday. It is a time period, so it works with in for the future and ago for the past: in a fortnight and a fortnight ago.

The adjective fortnightly means every two weeks: The bins are collected fortnightly.

🤝 Common Word Partners

in a fortnight (in two weeks' time)
a fortnight ago (two weeks in the past)
a fortnight's holiday / a fortnight's notice
fortnightly payments, meetings or reports

👯 Similar and Related Words

a week: the everyday word. Two weeks is the same time as a fortnight.
sennight: an old word for a week, meaning seven nights. It is rare today.

💡 The OddLingo Trick

Count the nights, not the days. Fortnight is short for fourteen nights, and sennight is seven nights. Once you see the counting, the word makes sense.