the.com/four
The last number you can count on one hand without feeling smug about it.
means The cardinal number between three and five, equal to 2+2.
from From Old English 'fēower,' tracing back to Proto-Germanic 'fedwōr' and ultimately Proto-Indo-European 'kʷetwóres' — the same ancient root that gave Latin 'quattuor' (hence 'quartet' and 'quarter') and Greek 'tessares.' The 'f' sound is the telltale mark of Grimm's Law, the sound-shift that turned so many old 'kw' sounds into 'f' and 'hw' as Germanic split from its Indo-European cousins — so 'four' and 'quattuor' are, in a real sense, the same word wearing different coats.
- only honest number
- spelled with exactly four letters, matches itself
- square root status
- smallest number that is both even and a perfect square
- tetraphobia
- considered unlucky in China, Japan, Korea; sounds like death
- seasons, suits, directions
- the universe keeps organizing itself into fours