Etymology

fortysomething

F4O1R1T1Y4S1O1M3E1T1H4I1N1G2

Today it means: An indeterminate value between 40 (inclusive) and 50 (exclusive). Full definition →

English forty ← Middle English fourty ← Old English fēowertiġ
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*kʷetwṓr
  2. Proto-Germanic*fedwōr
  3. Proto-Indo-European*déḱm̥
  4. Proto-Indo-European*déḱm̥-t(-s)
  5. Proto-Germanic*tegun(dz)
  6. Proto-Germanic*tigiwiz
  7. Proto-Germanic*fedwōr tigiwiz
  8. Proto-West Germanic*feuwar tigiwi
  9. Old Englishfēowertiġ
  10. Middle Englishfourty
  11. Englishforty
  12. English todayfortysomething

From forty + -something.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.