fortnight This fortnight

Which Fortnight Is It?

The current fortnight of the year, the day within it, and when the next one starts.

A fortnight is exactly fourteen days — two full weeks. The word contracts the Old English for "fourteen nights", and it remains everyday vocabulary in British, Irish, Australian and Indian English while American English generally says "two weeks" instead. The counter above shows which fortnight of the year you are in, counted from 1 January, and which of its fourteen days is today.

Fourteen days is a genuinely useful unit

Because a fortnight is a whole number of weeks, it always starts and ends on the same weekday — which a month never does. That single property is why pay cycles, sprints, rent and bin collections so often run fortnightly: the pattern stays put in the week. Add or subtract them on the fortnight calculator.

It never lines up with the year

26 fortnights is 364 days, one or two short of a year, so the cycle slips forward slightly each year rather than repeating. That leftover day is exactly what produces an occasional 27th pay period — see how many fortnights in a year and 26 vs 27 pay periods.

Guides about This Fortnight

Notes Sennight and Other Lost Time Words of English English once had a word for seven nights as well as fourteen. Here is what a sennight was, why it vanished, and the other time words that went with it. 5 min read Questions answered What Is a Fortnight? The Fourteen-Day Unit Explained A fortnight is exactly fourteen days. Here is where the word came from, which countries still use it daily, and what the rest of the world says instead. 5 min read Notes Is Fortnight British English? Where the Word Is Everyday Speech The word is unremarkable in Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and India, and almost unused in America. A guide to who says it and what the rest say. 5 min read Questions answered How Many Fortnights in a Year? The Exact Answer Twenty-six fortnights make 364 days, so a year has one spare day and a leap year has two. That small remainder causes almost every calendar oddity. 6 min read

More fortnight.now pages

Fortnight Calculator Add or subtract fortnights from any date, with the conversions to weeks, days and hours. Pay Period Dates Enter one known pay date and get every fortnightly pay date for that year — including the 27th when it happens. Fortnight Countdown How many fortnights until a date — a friendlier unit than a long day count.

Frequently asked questions

What is a fortnight?
Exactly fourteen days, or two weeks. The word comes from the Old English for "fourteen nights".
How many fortnights are in a year?
26 complete fortnights, which is 364 days, with one day left over — two in a leap year.
Is a fortnight the same as two weeks?
Yes, precisely. The difference is regional vocabulary rather than meaning.
Do Americans use the word fortnight?
Rarely. American English usually says "two weeks" or "biweekly", though the latter is ambiguous.