forty-two

forty-two

1. Forty plus two; the cardinal number following forty-one and preceding forty-three.
   • 1979, Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy:

     "Forty-two!" yelled Loonquawl. "Is that all you've got to show for seven and a half million years' work?"
     "I checked it very thoroughly," said the computer, "and that quite definitely is the answer. I think the problem, to be quite honest with you, is that you've never actually known what the question is."

• Arabic numerals: 42
• Roman numerals: XLII