How often is fortnightly?

What is the meaning of fortnight?

According to the Oxford dictionary, a fortnight is a period of 2 weeks.

In other words, 14 days.

It is a word in the British English language, originating from the old English word “feowertyne nigt” which literally means “fourteen nights’”

Fortnightly – how often is it?

Following on from the definition above, fortnightly simply refers to something that happens every 2 weeks or every 14 days.

It is often related to employment and jobs as people often get their salaries paid every fortnight.

Here is an example of the word used in a sentence:

“Terry is a plumber and he gets his wage paid fortnightly.”

 

This simply means Terry gets a pay cheque (wage) every second week.

Biweekly vs fortnightly

Here’s the deal.

The word “biweekly” is a bit of a strange word in the English language.

It has two meanings, especially in British use. Let me explain.

1. Firstly, biweekly can and does mean the exact same thing as fortnightly, ie “occurring every 2 weeks”.

2. However, biweekly can also mean “twice per week” (especially in Britain).

Yes, a bit ambiguous. Making biweekly not the ideal word in the English language, I know.

So I would suggest using fortnightly preferentially when you can. This is especially the case in England, Australia and similar English speaking regions.

On the other hand, in North America especially, biweekly is mostly used to mean every 2 weeks.

*Also note, both of these words are different to the word semimonthly.

Useful tips

Don’t confuse the spelling of fortnight with Fortnite, a video game from 2017.

Also, a lunar fortnight as used in astronomy has a slightly different definition and meaning.

Do you agree with my definition of how often fortnightly is? 

Let me know in the comments section below.