forty-one-year-old
UK[ˈfɔːti wʌn jɪər əʊld]US[ˈfɔːrti wʌn jɪr oʊld]
adj
being 41 years of age
n
a person who is 41 years old
Etymology
the term is a modern english compound, built from elements with deep germanic roots. "forty" derives from old english "feowertig", meaning "four tens". "one" comes from old english "an". "year" originates from old english "gear", related to the cycle of seasons. "old" stems from old english "eald", meaning aged or ancient. the hyphenated pattern "number-year-old" is a productive grammatical template in english for forming compound adjectives and nouns that specify age, a logical and transparent method of description that evolved from simpler adjectival phrases.
Analysis
this is a compound adjective/noun formed by combining the cardinal number "forty-one" with the plural noun "year" and the adjective "old". the individual elements are english words of old english origin, but the hyphenated compound structure is a modern english grammatical construction.
Examples
she is a forty-one-year-old architect from london.
the position requires a forty-one-year-old with specific technical experience.
he became the forty-one-year-old champion of the tournament.