Fortnightlies

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A publication or event occurring every two weeks, often used for periodicals such as magazines or newsletters
2. A type of schedule denoting a regular occurrence biweekly
3. A term describing activities, events, or publications that are released or happen once every fourteen days

Etymology: "Fortnightlies" is the plural of "fortnightly," a word built from "fortnight" and the suffix "-ly." The surprising part is "fortnight" itself, which is a contraction of "fourteen nights," the Old English "feowertyne niht." English once counted time in nights rather than days, and the fortnight preserves that older habit: a period of two weeks was reckoned as fourteen nights rather than fourteen days. The suffix "-ly" comes from Old English "-līc," meaning "having the form or quality of," which is also the source of words like "lovely" and "friendly." Attaching it to "fortnight" produced an adjective meaning "occurring every fortnight," and the same word later served as an adverb for the same sense. The plural form "fortnightlies" is the noun used for publications that appear on that schedule, such as magazines or newsletters.

Synonyms: biweekly publications