forty-hour

The term "forty-hour" is a modern compound adjective formed by combining the cardinal number "forty" with the noun "hour". "Forty" originates from Old English 'fēowertig', a compound itself meaning "four tens", reflecting the Germanic base-ten counting system. "Hour" has a more ancient lineage, tracing back to the Greek 'hōrā', which signified a fixed period or season, and was adopted into Latin as 'hōra' before entering English via Old French. The specific combination "forty-hour" emerged in the 20th century to describe the standard duration of a full-time workweek, institutionalizing a specific measure of labor time within industrial and post-industrial societies.

Structure: forty (number) + hour (time unit) - forty: From Old English 'fēowertig', meaning "four tens". Its functional role is as a cardinal number. - hour: From Old French 'hore', ultimately from Latin 'hōra' and Greek 'hōrā', meaning "a period of time, season". Its functional role is as a noun denoting a unit of time.