forty-odd

the compound "forty-odd" is a relatively modern english formation that combines the cardinal number "forty" with the adjective "odd." the number "forty" itself has deep germanic roots, evolving from old english feowertig, a compound of "four" and "ten." the word "odd" entered english from old norse oddi, originally denoting a triangle or a point, which led to its mathematical sense of an indivisible unit or a number not even. by the 18th century, "odd" had developed the adjectival sense of "left over, extra," as in "thirty-odd years." thus, "forty-odd" literally means "forty plus an extra, unspecified amount," with the secondary sense of "miscellaneous" deriving from "odd's" connotation of irregularity.

Structure: forty + odd forty (from old english feowertig, meaning "four tens"); odd (from old norse oddi, meaning "point of land, triangle, odd number," later "strange, unusual")