Article of the New York State Labor Law that deals with employment of minors.
Article of the U.S. Uniform Commercial Code that deals with bank deposits.
atomic number of the chemical element beryllium, symbol Be. number for wind force of 13 to 18 miles per hour, called “moderate wind–
moderate breeze.”
autterflies and dragonflies have four wings.
dental chart designation for the right second premolar (second bicuspid).
farthings in a penny (obsolete British coin).
firkins in a barrel (obsolete British measure of capacity).
fluid drams in a tablespoon.
fluid ounces in a gill.
gills in a pint.
four feet:
height of the goal cage on a regulation ice hockey rink.
width of baseball batter’s box (by six feet).
four most important AOC (Appellation contrôlée) designations of Bordeaux wines: Pomerol, Médoc, Graves/ Pessac-Léognan, and Saint-
Emilion.
four years: average life of a twenty dollar bill.
gauge (number) of a wood screw with the shank diameter of 7/64 of an inch.
the Hindu god Vishnu is portrayed as having four hands: one holding a shell (shankha); the second, a quoit (chakra); the third, a lotus; and the
fourth, a club.
hogsheads in a tun (large cask).
in astrology, the number 4 is ruled by the planet Mars.
inches in a hand (height measure for horses, from ground to top of shoulders).
in Hebrew, the numerical value of the letter daleth.
in Mesopotamian myth, number of gods who planned the flood that was to have destroyed all life on Earth. Anu (the father), Enlil (the
counselor), Ninurta (the throne carrier, son of Enlil), and Ennugi (the canal inspector).
in mineralogy, Mohs Hardness Scale level characterized by fluorite; can be scratched by glass.
in yoga, the four means to attaining knowledge of Brahman:
1. Viveka
2. Vairagya
3. Shatsampatti
4. Mumukshutva
ISBN group identifier for books published in Japan.
logs in a kab (ancient Hebrew measure of liquid capacity).
magnums in a Methuselah (champagne measure).
mahi in a neut (ancient Egyptian unit of
most field goals kicked in a Super Bowl game (football record): twice, by Don Chandler for Green Bay Packers against Oakland Raiders in
SB-II (1968); and by Ray Wersching for San Francisco 49ers against Cincinnati Bengals in SB-XVI (1982).
most Super Bowl wins by a coach (football record): by Chuck Noll for Pittsburgh Steelers, SB-IX, 1975; SB-X, 1976; SB-XII, 1978; SB-XIV,
1980.
most times named MVP in the NFL (football record): by Peyton Manning, 2003, 2004, 2008, and 2009.
most U.S Open golf tournaments won: four times, by Willie Anderson (1901, 1903–05), by Bobby Jones (1923, 1926, 1929–30), by Ben
Hogan (1948, 1950–51, 1953), and by Jack Nicklaus (1962, 1967, 1872, 1980).
noggins in a U.S. fluid pint.
number of Danish kings of England: first, Sweyn Forkbeard in 1013, for a few months interrupting the reign of the Saxon Ethelred II; then,
Canute from 1016; Harold I (Harefoot), 1035; Harthacanute, 1040–42, when Edward the Confessor restored the Saxon monarchy of
independent England.
number of gold medals won by the legendary Jesse Owens at the 1936 “Hitler Olympics” in Berlin, Germany: 100-m (Olympic record), 200-m
(world record), long jump, and 4 x 100-m relay. The outstanding performance by the African-American athlete shamed Hitler’s expectation
that the games would serve to display white supremacy.
number of House of Windsor monarchs of Great Britain, starting with George V, 1910; Edward VIII, 1936; George VI, 1936; to the present
Queen Elizabeth II, since 1952.
number of lawful wives allowed at a time to a Muhammadan, according to Surah 4 of the Quran.
number of lovebirds attending the Celtic love god, Aonghus. of nations in the United Kingdom: England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and
Wales.
number of Norman rulers of England, from William the Conqueror in 1066; William II (Rufus), 1087; Henry I (Beauclerc), 1100; Stephen 1135-
54. (The Plantagenet Dynasty followed.)
number of presidential electoral votes apportioned to each of the states of Hawaii, Idaho, Maine, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island. (May be
reapportioned for the 2012 election.)
number of presidents in the Provisional Government of France following World War II: Charles de Gaulle, 1944; Félix Gouin, 1946; Georges
Bidault, 1946; Léon Blum, 1946. (After Vichy.)
number of seats in the House of Representatives allotted to each of the states of Arkansas, Kansas, and Mississippi (as of the 2000
Census).
number of strings on a violin, a viola, a cello, and a double bass.
number of U.S. presidents named William: Henry Harrison, McKinley, Taft, and Clinton.
number thought to be unlucky in both Chinese and Japanese cultures. In both languages the word for “four” (in pinyin, cultures. In both
languages the word for “four” (in pinyin, “si”) sounds like the word for “death.”
the only number whose value is equal to the number of letters in its English name.
pecks in a bushel (dry measure).
percentage of the labor force in agriculture in 1970, compared with 52 percent in 1870. In 2009, it was less than 2 percent.
pice in an anna (former bronze coin of British India).
players on a polo team.
quarts in a gallon.
record number of home runs hit in a nine-inning baseball game: held by several players, the first in the “modern” period by New York Yankee
Lou Gehrig, on June 3, 1932, the most recent on September 5, 2003, by Carlos Delgado, with the Toronto Blue Jays.
retired baseball uniform number of:
➱ shortstop Luke Appling, retired by the Chicago White Sox.
➱ shortstop Joe Cronin, retired by the Boston Red Sox.
➱ first baseman Lou Gehrig, retired by the New York Yankees on July 4, 1939, ending his 2,130 consecutive game streak, the first
uniform number ever to be retired.
➱ outfielder Ralph Kiner, retired by the Pittsburgh Pirates.
➱ third baseman Paul Molitor, retired by the Milwaukee Brewers.
➱ outfielder Mel Ott, retired by the San Francisco Giants.
➱ outfielder Duke Snider, retired by the Los Angeles Dodgers.
➱ manager Earl Weaver, retired by the Baltimore Orioles.
retired basketball jersey number of:
➱ Adrian Dantley, retired by the Utah Jazz.
➱ Joe Dumars, retired by the Detroit Pistons.
➱ Wendell Ladner, retired by the New Jersey Nets.
➱ Sidney Moncrief, retired by the Milwaukee Bucks.
➱ Jerry Sloan, retired by the Chicago Bulls.
➱ Chris Webber, retired by the Sacramento Kings.
retired football jersey number of Tuffy Leemans, retired by the New York Giants.
retired hockey shirt number of:
➱ Barry Ashbee, retired by the Philadelphia Flyers.
➱ Jean Beliveau, retired by the Montreal Canadiens.
➱ Bobby Orr, retired by the Boston Bruins.
➱ Scott Stevens, retired by the New Jersey Devils.
rods in a chain (surveyor’s measure).
sides on a square, a rectangle, or a parallelogram, of any quadrilateral.
the smallest non-Fibonacci number.
the square of 2.
subchapter IV of the Uniform Code of Military Justice deals with court-martial jurisdiction.
sum of the first four Fibonacci numbers (0 + 1 + 1 + 2).
Title of the United States Code dealing with the flag and seal, the seat of government, and the states.
value of Roman numeral IV.
years in an Olympiad.
Anton Bruckner’s Symphony No. 4
“Romantic” symphony (in E-flat major).
au four
(in French, not a number): oven-baked.
The Big Four
U.S., Great Britain, France, and the Soviet Union; The countries that were most influential in international affairs after World War II.
Born on the Fourth of July
Ron Kovic’s 1976 best-selling memoir of his experience in the Vietnam War, and how it changed him from a gung ho marine into a peace
activist. Returning paralyzed from the chest down, and suffering further from poor treatment in VA hospitals, Kovic became the country’s most
ardent anti-Vietnam spokesman. The book was converted into a powerful film by Oliver Stone in 1989, with an intense performance by Tom
Cruise as Kovic, which won Stone the Best Director Oscar. Kovic co-wrote the screenplay.
Canon 4 of the American Bar Association Code of Professional Responsibility
a lawyer should preserve the confidences and secrets of a client.
F-4
U.S. Navy aircraft, the Phantom II, prized fighter of the Vietnam War.
Fearsome Foursome
nickname of the great defensive line of the Los Angeles Rams in the mid-1960s, made up of Lamar Lundy and David (Deacon) Jones,
tackles, and Merlin Olsen and Rosey Grier, ends.
Final Four
colloquial name for the national semifinals of the NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Championship tournament held each spring; one of the
nation’s most-watched sports events.
“Four Affirmations” in Shinto
1. tradition and the family
2. love of nature
3. physical cleanliness
4. “Matsuri,” the honoring and worship of the Kami and ancestral spirits.
four ages of history
according to Indian tradition: the Satya Yuga (golden age); the Treta Yuga, in which righteousness ( dharma) decreased by one-fourth; the
Dvapara Yuga, in which righteousness decreased by one-half; and the present Kali Yuga, in which righteousness has decreased by threefourths,
considered the most evil of all.
four ages of poetry
(Thomas Love Peacock, 1820): iron, gold, silver, and brass.
four aims of life (Purushartha)
according to Indian tradition: virtuous living (dharma), means of life (artha), pleasure (kama), and self-liberation (moksha).
four Alexandrian poets
250 BC): Apollonius, Theocritus, Bion, and Moschus.
four animals at the mouth of Ga-Oh’s cave
in Iroquoian myth, the Iroquoian Wind Giant had at the mouth of his cave a bear, a panther, a moose, and a fawn.
Four Archers
a mountain in the northeastern part of the Northern Territory of Australia.
Four Articles of Prague
demands for church reform in Bohemia, made in 1420 by followers of Jan Hus, including:
1. freedom to preach the word of God by others than adherents to the Church of Rome;
2. sacrament of the Eucharist in both kinds (bread and wine), to both priests and the laity alike;
3. exclusion of the clergy from secular activity
4. the clergy not to be exempted from civil law.
four Bacabs
the sons of Itzamna and Ixchel in Mayan mythology; the four Gods of the Cardinal Points of the Compass who hold up the four corners of the
sky: Mulac points north, Cauac points south, Kan points east, and Ix points west.
four-bagger
in baseball, a home run.
four bases of virtue in Buddhism
1. seeking truth
2. giving gifts
3. destroying karmic evils
4. cultivating wisdom.
four basic operations of arithmetic
addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.
four bells
time check on-board ship, signifies 2:00 or 6:00 or 10:00, A.M. or P.M.
four bits
slang for fifty cents.
four blood groups in humans
A, B, AB, and O.
Four Books
the four principal works in the Confucian canon: Analects of Confucius (Lun Yu), The Great Learning (Ta Hsueh), Book of Mencius (Meng
Tzu), and Doctrine of the Mean (Chung Yung), until recent times the primary textbooks in China’s education system. These four and the Five
Classics (q.v.) comprise the modern Confucian canon. (Yuan).
four books of the Veda
the sacred writings of Hinduism: Rig-Veda (hymns to the gods), Sama-Veda (priests’ chants), Athara-Veda (magical chants), Yajur-Veda
(sacrificial formulae in prose).
4 Boulevard du Palais
Paris address of La Sainte Chapelle, a Gothic chapel with impressive stained-glass windows, most dating from the thirteenth century.
Originally built by Louis IX to house what he believed to be Christ’s crown of thorns.
Four Branches of the Mabinogi
the main narrative of the Welsh “Mabinogion,” the tales of Pwyll, Branwen, Manawydan, and Math.
Four Brothers
Nickname of the saxophone section of Woody Herman’s big band in the late 1940s (The Second Herd). The band in that period featured the
saxes, and was frequently known as the Four Brothers Band. Also the name of their classic 1947 jazz recording, written by saxophonist
Jimmy Giuffre, and featuring Zoot Sims, Stan Getz, and Herbie Stewart on tenor saxes, and Serge Chaloff on baritone sax. The song was
recorded several times thereafter with variations in the personnel, after Al Cohn replaced Herbie Stewart.
Four Buttes
a town in northeastern Montana.
four-by-four
a car or truck having four forward speeds.
four C’s of a diamond
the factors that determine the value of the stone: carats, cut, color, and clarity.
“four calling birds”
the gift on the fourth day of Christmas in the carol “The Twelve Days of Christmas.”
Four Cardinal Principles
declared by Deng Xiaoping in 1979, these were four topics not open for discussion within the People’s Republic of China:
1. upholding the socialist path;
2. upholding the people’s democratic dictatorship;
3. upholding the leadership of the Communist Party of China
4.upholding Marxist-Leninist-Mao Zedong thought. Implied was that other issues not listed could be argued.
four cardinal (or heavenly) virtues
prudence, temperance, fortitude, and justice.
four castes
social strata in Hinduism: Brahmins or priests, rulers and warriors, merchants and farmers, peasants and laborers.
four chambers
mammalian hearts have four chambers.
four classes of the top Buddhist pantheon in modern Japan
1. the Nyorai class: the tathagata or buddhas
2. the Bosatsu class: bodhisattvas
3. the Myoo class: the vidyaraja or Kinds of Science in Tantrism
4.the Ten class: the deva or gods.
4 Clowns
a 1970 Robert Youngson anthology of some of the best silent comedy ever filmed. Includes Buster Keaton’s Seven Chances, Charley
Chase’s Limousine Love, and selections from Laurel and Hardy.
four-color process (CMYK)
used in printing; four colors (cyan, magenta, yellow, and black), on four separate plates, are combined in different intensities to produce a
vast array of other colors.
four-color theorem
any map can be constructed using only four colors so that no two contiguous countries with common borders are represented by the same
color.
four compounds comprising the major arcana of alchemy
vitriol, natron, liquor hepatic, and pulvis solaris.
Four-Corner Method
a system for encoding Chinese characters using four numerics for each character. The method was invented by Wang Yun-Wuu, editor in
chief of the Commercial Press of China in the 1920s.
Four Corners
(a) a location in southwestern U.S. where four states, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico, meet at a common point.
(b) a town in northeastern Wyoming, about 45 miles southeast of Sundance.
four corners offense
an ffensive strategy for stalling in a college basketball game, whereby four players would position themselves in the corners of the half-court
and pass the ball so that none held it for more than the maximum five seconds. The fifth man would take the center and watch for an
opportunity to drive the lane while defensive players were spread out, covering the four outside. Fans became so enraged at this technique
that the NCAA introduced a shot clock in 1985, disallowing such a freeze on the ball, and a three-point line a year later.
four corners of the earth
taken to mean “everywhere.”
four corners rule
a principle in law that any legal document be interpreted by the language used in its entirety (all “four corners”), ensuring that the intentions of
the parties are discerned by the plain meaning of the words chosen.
Four Crowned Martyrs
stone carvers of the third-century Yugoslavia who were martyred when they refused to carve an idol of Aesculapius for Diocletian.
four cycles of Irish sagas:
1. the Mythological Cycle (preserved in the Lebor Gabala) tells of the activities of the pagan Celtic gods.
2. the Ulster Cycle set in the reign of King Conchobar in pre-Christian Ireland, focuses on stories of the Irish hero Cuchulain.
3. the Fenian Cycle recounts the adventures of Fionn mac Cumhaill and his band of warriors, the Fianna.
4. the Historical Cycle (or Cycle of Kings) relates the exploits of characters in the early centuries of the Christian period.
Four Daughters
a heartwarming 1947 Warner Brothers film about four girls from a small town finding romance. Directed by Michael Curtiz, with three of the
four daughters played by the Lane sisters, Priscilla, Lola, and Rosemary.
Four Diamond Kings
four deities that protect Buddhist temples and work to defeat the enemies of Dharma: in the east, Dhritarashtra; in the south, Virudhaka; in the
west, Virupaksha; in the north, Vaishravana.
four dimensions
width, length, height, and time.
Four Discourses
those originally written by Indian masters and adopted as the canonical texts of the Buddhist four-discourse school:
1. Discourse on the Middle by Nagarjuna
2. Twelve-Gate Discourse by Nagarjuna
3. One-Hundred Verse Discourse by Aryadeva
4. Great Wisdom Discourse (Commentary on the Prajnaparamita Sutra) by Nagarjuna.
four distinctive emblems of Shinto
the bird’s nest, composed of two upright unpainted tree trunks with a third resting on their top and horizontal beam below; the “gohei,” a slim
wand of unpainted wood with two long pieces of paper notched alternately on opposite sides of it; the mirror; and the rope of rice straw.
four divisions of a classic tragedy
the protasis, the epistasis, the catastasis, and the catastrophe.
four-dollar gold piece
the “stella,” minted by the U.S. from 1879 to 1880.
four-down territory
in football, the area between the opposing team’s 30- and 40-yard lines, where a field-goal attempt seems risky, and a punt may not cover
enough ground to hold back the other team’s offense.
Four Dragon Kings
in Chinese mythology, the rulers of the seas and the four cardinal compass points: Ao Shun (north), Ao Ch’in (south), Ao Kuang (east), Ao Jun
(west).
Four Elementary Truths of Buddhism
1. both birth and death bring grief, and life is vain.
2. the cause of grief, and hence, the vanity of life, is indulgence of desire.
3. with the ending of desire will come surcease from grief.
4. the best way to end desire is by application of wisdom and intelligence to life.
four eyes
disparaging term for a person who wears glasses.
4-F
U.S. Selective Service classification of a candidate unfit for military service.
four faces of Fu Xi
in Chinese myth, the divinity Fu Xi has four faces, each overseeing one of the cosmic directions: north, south, east, and west.
Four Feathers
1939 classic adventure film about Harry Faversham, a staid Britisher who must vindicate himself from the charge of cowardice, starring John
Clements, Ralph Richardson, and C. Aubrey Smith. Rip-roaring battle scenes, and Smith’s memorable reenactment of Crimean War
skirmishes using nuts and fruits to portray the British “thin red line.” Filmed several times, as a silent film in 1915, 1921, and 1929, and with
sound again in 1955 (as Storm Over the Nile), 1977, and 2002, but the 1939 version is by far the best.
4 February
Kosciuszko Day, celebrated by Polish Americans on the birthday of Tadeusz Kosciuszko (1746), who fought with the colonists in the
Revolutionary War.
four flush
poker hand having four of the five cards of the same suit.
four-flusher
a person who can’t substantiate his pretensions; a braggart or pretender; a person who doesn’t pay his debts.
the fourfold great struggle
in Buddhism, to prevent trouble arising, to obliterate erroneous ideas that have arisen, to produce goodness which did not previously exist,
and to increase goodness which is already existent.
Four Forest Cantons
Unterwalden, Schwyz, Uri, and Lucerne: the first four Swiss communities to gain freedom from the Habsburgs after the 1315 battle of
Morgarten.
four forms of fearlessness
those attributed to a Buddha in preaching the Dharma:
1. in asserting that he has attained the perfect enlightenment;
2. in asserting that he has destroyed all defilements;
3. in pointing out evil passions of sentient beings; and
4. in expounding the method of emancipation.
Four Freedoms
espoused by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in his address to Congress on January 6,1941: freedom of speech, freedom of religion,
freedom from want, freedom from fear.
four fundamental constituents of DNA and RNA
adenine, cytosine, guanine, and thymine.
four fundamental forces of nature
gravity, the strong nuclear force, the weak nuclear force, and the electromagnetic force.
four giant gas planets in the solar system
Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune.
four gods of the Lakota Indians
Skan, Inyan, Maka, and Wi.
Four Gospels of the New Testament
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
four great mountain monasteries of China
each is associated withk a bodhisattva of Mahayana Buddhism; they are P’ut’o Mountain (off the coast of central China), Five Platform
Mountain (in northern China), Omei Mountain (in Szechuan Province), and Nine Flower Mountain (in Anhui Province).
Four Guardians of the Universe
also, Four Great Heavenly Kings. In Japanese mythology, four great deities living on Mount Sumeru who protect the world, each responsible
for one of the cardinal directions: Jijoku Tenno (east), Komoku Tenno (west), Bishamon Tenno (north), and Zojo Tenno (south).
4-H Club
a youth organization sponsored by the Department of Agriculture offering instruction in home economics and agriculture. (Its name reflects its
goals: to improve head, heart, hands, health.)
Four Heavenly Emperors
four Tao deities who are in charge of all things in Heaven and on Earth:
1. The Great Jade, Emperor (master of 10,000 spirits): in charge of the Dao of Heaven.
2. The Middle Heaven Great Emperor of the North Pole Star of Purple Subtlety: administers the sun, moon, and stars, as well as the
climates of the seasons.
3. The Great Heavenly Emperor of the Highest Palace of Polaris (at the pivot of Heaven): in charge of the three powers of Heaven,
Earth, and Man, and of wars in the human world.
4.Imperial God of Earth: in charge of the land, birds, rivers, and mountains.
Four Heavens of the Bon religion of ancient Tibet
Sipa Yesang (home of the procreator god Sangpo Bumtri); Sipa Gunsang (where the gods discuss the fate of the Earth); Barlha Wösel
(where the gods purify themselves); and the highest heaven, Gontsun Phyva (where the gods are educated).
Four Holy Truths of Buddhism
a set of principles concerning human existence, through which it is said Buddha achieved enlightenment: the holy truth concerning ill, the holy
truth concerning the cause of ill, the holy truth concerning the cessation of ill, and the holy truth concerning the path which leads to that
cessation.
four horsemen
in ten-pin bowling, the pins left standing after the first ball has hit: either 1, 2, 3, and 7, or 1, 3, 6, and 10.
Four Horsemen of Notre Dame
football backfield under coach Knute Rockne from 1922 to the Rose Bowl Game in 1925: Harry Stuhldreher, quarterback, Don Miller and Jim
Crowley, halfbacks, Elmer Layden, fullback. The name first appeared in an October 18, 1924, column by sports writer Grantland Rice after
Notre Dame’s 13-7 victory over Army.
Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
four horsemen, one each riding a white, red, black, and pale horse, representing personifications of the evils of war: respectively, conquest,
slaughter, famine, and death. (From the Revelation of Saint John the Divine, Revelation 6:2-8).
Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
widely read antiwar novel of 1916 by the Spanish author Vicente Blasco Ibáñez, about an Argentinean family that fights on opposing sides in
World War I. Made into an effective 1921 silent film directed by Rex Ingram, starring Rudolph Valentino dancing his famous tango. Remade
as a talkie in 1962, an ill-advised project of director Vincente Minnelli, with Glenn Ford, Charles Boyer, Lee J. Cobb, Paul Henreid, and Paul
Lukas.
four humors
black bile, yellow bile, phlegm, blood.
“Four Hymns to Love and Beauty”
a group of poems written by Edmund Spenser (1596).
Four Immortal Chaplains
when the U.S. Army troopship Dorchester was torpedoed off the coast of Greenland on February 3, 1943, four clergymen aboard perished
after giving up their own life jackets to waiting servicemen for whom none were available. They were: Father John Washington (Catholic),
Reverend Clark V. Poling (Dutch Reformed), Rabbi Alexander Goode (Jewish), and Reverend George L. Fox (Methodist). Of more than 900
men on the ship, only 230 survived.
four-in-hand
(a) a vehicle drawn by four horses; also called coach and four.
(b) a necktie tied in a slipknot with the two ends hanging loose.
4-iron
golf club equivalent to the earlier mashie iron.
4 July
Independence Day.
four kings
in a deck of cards, the four kings supposedly represent Charlemagne (Western European), David (Jewish), Alexander (Macedonian), and
Caesar (Roman) monarchies.
Four Ladies Bank
an area in the Indian Ocean adjacent to Prydz Bay, off Princess Elizabeth Land in Australian Antarctic Territory.
Four Lakes
a chain of lakes in southern Wisconsin: Mendota, Monona, Waubesa, and Kegonsa.
four-leaf clover
a clover with four leaves, rather than the usual three; considered to be a good-luck symbol.
four-legged burglar alarm
slang for a watchdog.
four-letter man
obsolete slang for a male homosexual, the four letters indicating H-O-M-O.
four-letter word
any of several short words generally regarded as being vulgar or obscene.
four levels of meaning
(as per Dante): the literal meaning, the moral meaning, allegorical meaning, and the anagogical meaning.
The Four Lings
four living Buddhas of Tibet, called Hutogtus, each empowered to serve as Prince Regent until the Dalai Lama became eighteen years old
and able to assume the reins of leadership. The four were Daingyailing, Gundeling, Cemoinling, and Xedeling.
four main currents of Tibetan Buddhism
the four schools: Nyingma (the “ancient school”), dating from the eighth century; Kagyu (“the transmitted word”), from the eleventh century;
Sakya (“gray earth”), also eleventh century; and Gelug (the “virtuous way”), founded in the fourteenth century.
4 March
Charter Day in Pennsylvania, commemorating the granting of the charter to William Penn by Charles II in 1681.
The Four Marys
(a) the constant companions of Mary, Queen of Scots (friends from her childhood): Mary Seaton, Mary Beaton, Mary Livingston, and Mary
Fleming.
(b) a Scottish folk song about Mary Hamilton, a young woman who is soon to be executed for abandoning to the sea her newborn baby,
fathered by the Queen’s husband. The ballad appeared in Sir Walter Scott’s 1802 Minstrelsy of the Scottish-Border.
Four Masters of Anhui
a group of Chinese artists painting in Anhui Province in the seventeenth century (Qing dynasty), who, separated from the mainstream currents
of Chinese art, developed their own styles. They are usually identified as the little-known Sun Yi and Wang Zhirui, and the well-known Zha
Shibiao and Hongren.
Four Masters of the Yuan Dynasty
Chinese painters who were active during the Yuan period (1260–1368) but gained stature during the succeeding Ming Dynasty. Adherents of
the school of literati painting, which focused on individual expression instead of visual appeal, their names were Wu Zhen, Huang Gongwang,
Ni Zan, and Wang Meng.
4 May
Rhode Island Independence Day, celebrated as the day in 1776 when the state declared independence, two months before the Continental
Congress did so for the nation as a whole.
four meanings of poetry
(per I. A. Richards): the sense (what is actually said), the feeling (the writer’s emotional attitude toward it), the tone (the writer’s attitude toward
his reader), and the intention (the writer’s purpose; the effect he hopes to produce).
four means of attaining knowledge
(according to the Nyaya school of Indian philosophy): perception, inference, comparison, testimony.
The Four Million
a 1906 collection of O. Henry stories, containing arguably the author’s most famous, “The Gift of the Magi.” The title, reflecting the actual
population of New York City at the time, was chosen as a corrective to the widely quoted remark by Ward McAllister that there were only 400
people in New York society.
four minor Arcana face cards in a Tarot deck
page, knight, queen, king.
four-minute mile
once thought to be an unassailable barrier, until runner Dr. Roger Bannister set a new record of 3:59.4 on May 6, 1954, in Oxford, England.
The best time has gradually shortened since then; the current record is 3:43.13, set by Hicham El Guerrouj of Morocco, in Rome, Italy, on July
7, 1999.
“Four Minutes Thirty-Three Seconds”
1952 musical composition by John Cage, in which the musicians sit through three silent movements of thirty seconds; two minutes, twentythree
seconds; and one minute, forty seconds with their instruments poised but never playing even one note.
Four Modernizations
the goals of Deng Xiaoping’s reform program, first introduced by Zho Enlai in 1976: agriculture, industry; science and technology, and the
military. These constituted a reversal of Mao Zedong’s policy of economic self-reliance.
Four Noble Truths of Buddhism
the central core of Buddhist religious doctrine, as taught by Gautama Buddha:
1. suffering is omnipresent;
2. its cause is in the indulgence of desire;
3. elimination of desire will relieve the suffering;
4. the best way to eliminate desire is through the Noble Eightfold Path (q.v.).
Four Noes and One Without
a pledge by President Chen Shui-bian of the Republic of China made at his inauguration address on May 20, 2000, regarding the political
status of Taiwan. Provided that the People’s Republic of China does not attack Taiwan militarily, Chen’s administration will not the following
(the “Four Noes”):
1. declare Taiwanese independence;
2. change the national title from “The Republic of China” to “The Republic of Taiwan”;
3. include the doctrine of state-to-state relations in the Constitution of the Republic of China;
4. promote a referendum on unification or independence.
the “One Without ” was that Chen pledged not to abolish the National Unification Council.
4 November
birthday of Will Rogers in 1879, celebrated as a state holiday in Oklahoma.
four-o
slang for “excellent,” from U.S. Navy use indicating highest efficiency rating of officers.
Four Oaks
a northern suburb of West Bromwich, England.
four-o’clock
an ornamental plant native to tropical America; its name derives from its flowers opening in late afternoon, and closing by the following
morning.
four offerings
prescribed items that can be offered to the Buddha: food and drink, clothes, bed, medicinal drink.
four on the floor
designates an automobile with a four-speed transmission operated by a manual shift protruding from the floor next to the driver’s seat.
four orders of mendicant friars
Dominicans, Franciscans, Augustinians, Carmelites.
The Four P’s
an entertainment featuring a palmer, a pardoner, and a pothecary, with a pedlar acting judge, to determine who can tell the biggest lie. By
John Heywood; performed about 1520, published 1544.
Four Paths
a town in the south-central part of the island of Jamaica.
four-penny nail
a carpenter’s common nail, 1-½ inches long (coded 4d).
four-point average
the highest level of grade point average; an academic rating system in which A = 4, B = 3, etc. The GPA is the weighted mean average of all
grade points in all courses.
Four-Point Plan
Harry Truman’s economic plan promoted in his inaugural address on January 20, 1949:
1. continue support of the UN;
2. continue the Marshall Plan for world economic recovery;
3 .extend collective defense agreements against communist aggression;
4 .develop a program for aid to undeveloped nations.
4-point type
typographer’s measure, known as “brilliant.”
four-poster
a bed having four tall corner posts, originally intended to hold a canopy.
Four-Power Pacific Treaty
an agreement of December 13, 1921, among Great Britain, France, Japan, and the United States, by which each country guaranteed to
respect the others’ rights in island territorial possessions in the Pacific Ocean.
Four-Power Pact
agreement signed on July 15, 1933, between Great Britain, France, Italy, and Germany; impelled by Mussolini, who wanted to replace the
influence of small countries in the League of Nations by a coalition of major powers.
four prohibitions of Confucius
do not be swayed by personal opinion; recognize no inescapable necessity; do not be stubborn; do not be self-centered.
“Four Quartets”
a four-part poem by T.S. Eliot, published between 1936 and 1942, considered by many critics as his major poetic work.
four questions
in Judaism, the traditional four questions on the meaning of the Seder service (subsumed under the general question, “Why is this night
different from all other nights?”), asked by the youngest boy at Passover Seder and answered by reading from the Haggadah:
1. On all other nights of the year we eat leavened bread and matzoh, but why on this night do we eat only matzoh?
2. On all other nights of the year we eat many kinds of herbs, but why on this night do we eat mainly bitter herbs?
3. On all other nights of the year we do not dip even once, but why on this night do we dip twice?
4. On all other nights of the year we eat either sitting upright or reclining, but why on this night do we eat only reclining?
four rivers in the Garden of Eden
Pison, Gihon, Hiddekel, and Euphrates (Genesis 2:11-14).
4, St. James Place
London residence of Frederic Chopin.
Four Saints in Three Acts
an opera in four acts [sic] by Virgil Thomson, with libretto by Gertrude Stein, first produced in 1934. The four saints are St. Theresa, St.
Ignatius, and the fictional St. Settlement and St. Chavez; the action is set in sixteenth-century Spain.
The Four Seasons
Antonio Vivaldi’s most famous composition, consisting of four concertos accompanying four sonnets written by the composer.
four seasons of the year
summer, autumn, winter, spring.
fhe four senses
the four modes of scriptural interpretation: literal, allegorical, moral, anagogical.
four sheets to the wind
slang for “drunk.”
four silver stars
insignia of a full general of the U.S. Army.
four sons of Entoria
Janus, Hymnus, Faustus, and Felix; fathered by Saturn, they provided the four faces on the altar decoration in the temple of Saturn at the foot
of the Capitol in ancient Rome.
four stages of life
in Indian philisiphy: student (period of learning), householder (family life, period of emotional development), impending retirement (period of
intellect and thoughtfulness), meditation (earlier three are melded and the inner man gets attention).
four-star
of superlative quality.
Four Star Playhous
dramatic TV anthology featuring Dick Powell, with rotating stars, on CBS from September 1952 through September 1956.
four-striper
a U.S. Navy captain.
four suits of a playing card deck
correspond to social divisions: spades (the military and nobles), hearts (the church), diamonds (commerce), and clubs (the common men).
fourth
British slang for a privy, a latrine.
Fourth Amendment to the Constitution
provides protection from unreasonable search and seizure.
Fourth Arrondissement
section of Paris containing Notre Dame Cathedral.
Fourth Avenue
in New York City, the extension of Park Avenue below 32nd Street.
Fourth Cataract
a section of white water in the Nile River, north of Merowe in northern Sudan.
fourth-class mail
class of mail in the U.S. postal system including merchandise and some printed matter, weighing 8 ounces and unsealed for inspection
purposes.
Fourth Commandment
Thou shalt keep holy the Sabbath day.
Fourth Crusade
initiated by Pope Innocent III in 1202, with the aim of conquering Egypt and then proceeding to the Holy Land, the Crusade leaders were
pressured by the Venetians to turn on Constantinople, which they eventually sacked in 1204 for its rich spoils.
fourth dimension
time regarded as a scalable dimension, required by relativity theory, along with three spatial dimensions, to specify the location of any event.
fourth estate
the press; class of society other than the clergy, the nobility, and the common people.
Fourth French War of Religion
provoked by the murder of Gaspard de Coligny, French Protestant leader, on St. Bartholomew’s Day (August 24, 1572), and the subsequent
three-day massacre of some 2,000 Huguenots in Paris and the provinces. Ended dy the Edict of Boulogne, July 8, 1573. The St.
Bartholomew’s Day Massacre, as it came to be called, radicalized many survivors, created a strong distrust of the king, and led to Huguenots
organizing and creating their own armies for defense against the Catholics.
Fourth International
a loose federation of small socialist groups attempted by Leon Trotsky in Mexico in 1937, antagonistic to Moscow.
Fourth Lateran Council
the most important of the Lateran Councils, held in 1215 under Pope Innocent III. Among its significant decrees, it proclaimed the dogma of
transubstantiation, required Catholics to observe annual confession and receive the Eucharist at Easter, set rules for episcopal elections,
condemned Albigensian and Catharist heresies, and forbade trial by battle. It also called for a new Crusade.
Fourth of July
(a) America’s birthday, 1776; Declaration of independence, written almost totally by Thomas Jefferson, is approved by the Continental
Congress, meeting in Philadelphia.
(b) rhyming slang for a tie.
Fourth of March Speech
1850 address to Congress by John Calhoun attacking Henry Clay’s Compromise of 1850. Calhoun asked that the North return fugitive slaves
and suggested that a Constitutional Amendment be added, restoring the balance between the North and the South.
fourth position
in ballet, the position in which the feet are slightly apart and parallel, at right angles to the direction of the body, toes pointing out in opposite
directions, heels in line front to back, with one foot forward of the other.
fourth president
James Madison, March 4, 1809–March 3, 1817.
4-3
in football, the most widely used defensive formation: four linemen backed by three linebackers.
Fourth Republic
the republic established in France in 1946, following the German occupation 1940–44 and the provisional government of 1944–46; replaced
by the Fifth Republic in 1958.
fourth state of the Union
Georgia ratified the Constitution on January 2, 1788.
fourth wall
in the thater, the imaginary fourth side of a box, separating the audience from the actors on stage.
Fourth Way School
the esoteric teachings of George Ivanovich Gurdjieff, going beyond the traditional three ways of the fakir, the monk, and the yogi. This new
religion uses arduous physical exercise to reach a higher level of consciousness.
fourth wedding anniversary gift
linen or silk is customary.
fourth wheel
the wheel in a watch that drives the escape pinion.
4 to
quarto: the page size of a book from printer’s sheets that are folded into four leaves, about 9-½ x 12 inches.
4-to-an-em
in printing, an obsolete measure of spacing (equal to 1/4 em) used to justify a typographical line (i.e., spread out the words to fill the line to the
margins); known also as a “thin space.”
4 to 3
the odds against being dealt a pair in five-card poker.
Four Transcendent Lords
the main peaceful Tibetan Bon gods: Satrig Ersang (great mother goddess), Shenlha Okar (god of wisdom or of light), Sangpo Bumtri (the
procreator), and Tönpa Shenrab (the teacher).
4 Wheaton 316
citation for the Supreme Court decision in McCulloch v. Maryland (1819), in which the Court, under Chief Justice Marshall, ruled that
Congress had the authority to establish a national bank, thereby establishing the supremacy of the federal government over the states.
four-wheel drive
an automotive drive system in which engine power is transmitted to all four wheels for greater traction.
four wide ones
in baseball, base on balls.
Four Wind Gods
in Greek mythology, the sons of Astraeus and Eos: Boreas, god of the North Wind; Eurus, god of the East Wind; Notus, god god of the South
Wind; and Zephyrus, god of the West Wind.
4-wood
golf club, sometimes called a baffie.
Four-Year Plan
Adolf Hitler’s agenda, proposed October 19, 1936, to have the German army and the German economy ready for war within four years. To
this end he launched a program to build highways for the army, which by 1938 had built 3,000 kilometers of roads costing an estimated six
million marks.
Gang of Four
a group of Communist functionaries who tried to seize power after the death of Mao Zedong in 1976: his widow, Jiang Qing; and three
Shanghai politicians, Zhang Chunqiao, Wang Hongwen, and Yao Wenyuan. The coup failed, and in 1980 they were tried and found guilty of
treason.
Group 4 elements (of the Periodic Table)
titanium (22), zirconium (40), hafnium (72), rutherfordium (104).
Islands of the Four Mountains
a section of the Aleutian Islands chain in Alaska.
Lagrange’s four-square theorem
states that every positive integer can be written as the sum of at most four square numbers. Three are not always sufficient.
Mendelssohn’s Fourth Symphony
“Italian” symphony (in A major).
most shutouts pitched in world series games
total of four (baseball record): by Christy Mathewson for New York Giants against Philadelphia Athletics, 1905 (three times), and 1913, same
teams.
the name of God
in most languages, God’s name is spelled in four letters, e.g., in Hebrew, JHVH (JeHoVaH); In Latin, Deus; in Greek, Θεóς (Theos); in
French, Dieu; in German, Gott; in Spanish, Dios; in Dutch, Godt; in Swedish, Goth; in Egyptian, Deva; etc.
number 4 billiard ball
the ball that is conventionally solid purple.
number 4 wood screw
a screw with a screw shank diameter of 7/64 inches.
on all fours
on one’s hands and knees.
Operation T-4
the Nazis’ October 1939 program for euthanizing Germans who were disabled physically or mentally, and thus deemed “unworthy of life” by
not conforming with the Third Reich’s concept of “racial integrity.”
the phases of the moon
full, waning, new, waxing.
plus fours
long baggy knickers for men, popular in the 1910s through the 1930s, worn as sports clothing, especially for golf. So called because four
inches were added to regular knickers to provide the bagginess below the knees.
quadrilateral
a polygon of four sides.
Quadrilateral
four famous fortresses in Italy between Lombardy and Venice: Mantua, Peschiera, Legnano, and Verona.
quadrivium
the four studies of the higher division of the seven liberal arts in the Middle Ages: geometry, arithmetic, astronomy, and music.
Quadruple Alliance
Any one of several European alliances:
(a) of 1718: Austria, Britain, France, and the United Prov inces (Netherlands) allied to prevent Spain from annexing Sardinia and Sicily.
(b) of March 1814: Austria, Britain, Prussia, and Russia joined forces to defeat the French emperor Napoleon; this alliance was
renewed in 1815 and 1818.
(c) of 1834: Britain, France, Portugal, and Spain joined together to defend the constitutional monarchies of Spain and Portugal against
the Carlists.
quartet
a musical group composed of four instruments or four voices.
Schubert’s Fourth Symphony
“Tragic” symphony (in C minor).
The Sign of the Four
the second of Arthur Conan Doyle’s (he was not yet “Sir”) Sherlock Holmes novels, first appearing in 1890. Subsequent editions and
serializations frequently shortened the title to four words, The Sign of Four. The story has been filmed at least nine times, the earliest in 1913
with Harry Benham as Holmes.
stella
U.S. four dollars gold pieces, minted by the U.S. from 1879 to 1880.
