Fortieth

Fortieth is the ordinal form of the number forty in English. It denotes the position of something in a sequence or the 40th occurrence of an event, such as a fortieth birthday or a fortieth anniversary. In numeric notation, it is written as 40th.

Spelling and origin: Fortieth is formed by adding the ordinal suffix -ieth to the cardinal forty. The standard spelling is fortieth; forms like fortyeth are considered nonstandard. The word forty itself comes from Old English feowertig, and the -ieth ending is a common way English forms ordinals.

Usage: Fortieth appears in counting, labeling, and official lists, as in the fortieth item or the fortieth chapter. It is also used with dates and anniversaries, for example the fortieth anniversary, which is traditionally associated with the ruby gemstone. In historical or geographical contexts, phrases like the fortieth parallel northern latitudes may be encountered, though such usage is less common in everyday language.

Numerals and pronunciation: When written with numerals, the form is 40th. The ordinary pronunciation is roughly “FOR-tee-eth.” As with other ordinals, the form changes to th in most contexts (e.g., fourth, fifth, fortieth).

See also: XL, the Roman numeral for forty; forty (cardinal); ordinal suffixes in English.