Pronunciation: [fˈɔːti͡əθs] (IPA) 
The word "fortieths" may seem daunting at first glance, but its spelling can be broken down phonetically. The initial "f" sound is followed by the "oh" sound, represented by the letter "o", and then the "r" sound. The "t" sound is pronounced next, followed by the "ee" sound represented by the letters "e" and "th", and finally the "s" sound. The IPA transcription for "fortieths" would be /ˈfɔː.ti.ɛθs/.
Fortieths is the plural form of the noun "fortieth," which refers to one out of forty equal parts or divisions of a whole. It represents a numerical fraction or ratio indicating the position or quantity in a series that corresponds to the number forty when divided into equal portions.
"Fortieths" is commonly used in contexts that involve dividing a whole into forty parts and identifying a specific unit or portion within that division. For instance, if a cake is divided into forty equal pieces, each individual slice can be referred to as a "fortieth" or one of the "fortieths" of the cake. Similarly, in financial or mathematical calculations, "fortieths" can be used to represent a fortieth part of a quantity, like a share, an allocation, or a proportion.
The concept of "fortieths" is closely related to the concept of fractions, where it represents one numerator value out of a total denominator value of forty. It is important to note that "fortieths" can also be expressed as a decimal fraction, where each "fortieth" would represent 0.025 (1 divided by 40 equals 0.025).
The word "fortieths" is derived from the cardinal number "forty" combined with the suffix "-th" indicating ordinality. The base word "forty" originated from Old English "feowertig", which can be traced back to Middle English "fourty", ultimately derived from the Old English number "feower" meaning "four" and "tig", which meant "group of ten". Over time, this evolved into "forty" as we know it today. Therefore, "fortieths" represents the ordinal form of "forty", indicating the position in a sequence.
