fower

fower

English

Etymology 1

From fow.

Noun

fower (plural fowers)

1. (Early Modern English, dated) One who cleans (fows), as in cooking utensils or house maintenance.

Etymology 2

Middle English fower, from Old English fēower.

Numeral

fower

1. (Geordie) four

Noun

fower (uncountable)

1. The digit 4 in the NATO phonetic alphabet. It is pronounced with two syllables, to prevent possible accidental confusion with other digits.

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Middle English

Alternative forms

• fore, feour, four, fowwre, foure, fowr, vour

Etymology

From Old English feōwer, ffom Proto-Germanic *fedwōr, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷetwóres.

Pronunciation

• (Early ME) IPA^(key): /ˈføːwər/
• IPA^(key): /ˈfɔur/

Numeral

cardinal number

4	Previous:	thre
	Next:	five

fower

1. four

   • a. 1382, John Wycliffe, “Apocalips 6:8”, in Wycliffe's Bible:

     And lo! a pale hors; and the name was Deth to hym that sat on hym, and helle suede hym. And power was ȝouun to hym on foure partis of the erthe, for to sle with swerd, and with hungur, and with deth, and with beestis of the erthe.

     And lo! A pale horse, and the name was Death for who that sat on him, and hell trailed him. And power was given to him in four parts of the earth, for slaying with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the earth's creatures.

Related terms

• ferthe
• fourtene

Descendants

• English: four
• Scots: fower
• Yola: vour, voure

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Scots

Etymology

From Middle English fower, from Old English feōwer, from Proto-Germanic *fedwōr, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷetwóres.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [fʌur], [ˈfʌuər]
• (Southwestern Scotland) IPA^(key): [fuwr]

Numeral

cardinal number

4	Previous:	three
	Next:	five

fower

1. four

Derived terms

• fowert (“fourth”)

References

• Scots-English Dictionary on Scots Wikipedia