Fowre

Part of speech: determiner, noun

Definitions

1. An archaic spelling of the cardinal number that comes after three and before five
2. An old form of the number four, the digit written as 4 and standing between three and five
3. A obsolete variant spelling denoting the quantity equal to one more than three

Etymology: "Fowre" is an older spelling of "four," the number that comes after three. Its Old English form was "fēower," which descends from a Proto-Germanic root shared with German "vier" and Dutch "vier." The spelling keeps a "w" that had dropped out of pronunciation over the centuries, so the written form preserves a sound the spoken word lost. Scots writers kept a similar spelling, "fower," which shows the same older vowel and consonant pattern.