fourthdegree

Fourth degree, sometimes written as fourthdegree or expressed as fourfold degree, is a general descriptor used across fields to indicate the fourth level, order, or degree of a thing. It does not denote a single concept in all contexts; its precise meaning depends on the discipline.

In mathematics, “fourth degree” most often refers to quartic objects and problems. A quartic polynomial has degree four, such as ax^4+bx^3+cx^2+dx+e with a nonzero, and quartic equations can be solved by established methods like Ferrari’s technique or by factoring into quadratics when possible. In geometry, a plane quartic curve is a curve of degree four and includes a variety of shapes studied in algebraic geometry.

In other domains, the term appears in classification and ranking systems. In some martial arts and other competitive practices, “fourth degree” denotes a fourth-dan or fourth-level rank. In law, many jurisdictions classify offenses by degrees of severity (first through fourth), with the precise elements and penalties of a “fourth-degree” offense varying by statute and location.

The concept also appears in graph theory and related areas where “degree” describes the number of incident connections at a node; a vertex with four connections is described as having degree four. Across fields, “fourth degree” thus conveys the idea of a fourth tier or order, with its exact implications defined by the applicable context.