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# forty

number (forty, 40)

«forty» in the English dictionary: everyday and in Jewish tradition — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

Forty is the number 40, four tens. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/forty/#m1)

### In the lessons

maths: a number word that gives a quantity; 40 = 4 × 10 = 5 × 8; forty minutes, forty pages; everyday life: forty winks means a short nap

### Examples

- There are forty pupils in the hall. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/forty/#x1)
- A box holds forty pencils. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/forty/#x2)
- He ran forty metres. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/forty/#x3)
- Forty minus twelve is twenty-eight. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/forty/#x4)
- The lesson lasts forty minutes. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/forty/#x5)
- Forty is double twenty. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/forty/#x6)
- Grandpa took forty winks after lunch. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/forty/#x7)
- "Six, eight, ten--twenty, forty," said he. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/forty/#x8)

### Note

Read it as the number 40. Trap: spelled «forty», not «fourty»; do not confuse with fourteen (14).

## In Jewish tradition

It is a number that often marks a time of testing or change, such as the forty days of rain and forty days of spying.

**Interpretation.** Tradition notes forty days of the Flood, forty days Moses was on Sinai and forty years in the desert as periods of change and preparation.

### Examples

- And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights. (Torah GEN.7.12, JPS 1917) [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/F/forty/#x1)
- And they returned from spying out the land at the end of forty days. (Torah NUM.13.25, JPS 1917) [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/F/forty/#x2)
- And forty days were fulfilled for him; for so are fulfilled the days of embalming. (Torah GEN.50.3, JPS 1917) [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/F/forty/#x3)
- And the land had rest forty years. (Prophets JDG.3.11, JPS 1917) [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/F/forty/#x4)
- And he had judged Israel forty years. (Prophets 1SA.4.18, JPS 1917) [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/F/forty/#x5)
- The children of Azmaveth, forty and two. (Writings EZR.2.24, JPS 1917) [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/F/forty/#x6)

### Note

Read it as the number 40. Trap: spelled «forty», not «fourty»; do not confuse with fourteen (14).

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «forty» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/forty/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«forty» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/forty.html) on Mova free.
- [Trees and pragmatics of «forty» in the Judaism dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/F/forty/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«forty» in the Judaism dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/judaism/w/forty.html) on Mova free.