fourth (forth)

and n. [ = The thridde was from Habraham forte Moyses com, The ferthe fro Moyses to Dauid kyndom. Rob. of Gloucester, p. 9. Fourth-day, Wednesday: so called by members of the Society of Friends. I have an invitation to visit the Duche of Gloucester next Fourth -day. Elizabeth Fry , in Ryder, viii. Fourth estate, nerve, position, shift, etc. See the nouns. Fourth figure of syllogism, that type of syllogism in which each of the three terms occurs once as subject and once as predicate. See figure, 9. II. n. 1. The quotient of unity divided by four; one of four equal parts of anything; a quarter: as, three fourths (4) of an acre.-2. In early Eng . law , a fourth part of the rents of the year, or of movables, or both, granted or levied by way of tax.-3. In music : (a) A tone four diatonic degrees above or below any given tone. (b) The interval between any tone and a tone four degrees distant from it. (c) The harmonic combination of two such tones. (d) In a scale, the fourth tone from the bottom; the subdominant: solmizated fa , as F in the scale of C, or D in that of A. The typical interval of the fourth is that between the first and fourth tones of a scale, acoustically represented by the ratio 3:4-that is, and half. Such fourth called perfect or major; a nunha sentirtand anal to two diatonic steps fourth one half step shorter is called diminished or minor; a fourth one half step longer is called augmented, extreme, sharp, or superfluous. The perfect fourth is the second most perfect consonance after the octave, and the next to the fifth. When two musical tones form a fourth, the higher makes four vibrations while the lower makes three. Helmholtz , Sensations of Tone (trans.), p. 22. The Fourth, in the United States, the Fourth of July, the anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, which was promulgated July 4th, 1776. fourth-cla (forth'klas), a. Belonging to the cla next after the third. Fourth-cla matter, in the postal system of the United States (1889), mail-mat IMG:content-1772.png:[blocks in formation] written or printed matter. fourthly (forth'li), adv. [ At present the ratings of ships, both in the British service and in that of the United States, are changeable and indefinite. Formerly the rating was determined by the number of guns; now, in the United States service, the cla ification is by displacement.