42
Life's ultimate answer
Forty-two, the number between forty-one and forty-three.
In Douglas Adams's *The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy*, a supercomputer reveals 42 as the answer to "the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything"—though no one knows what the question was.
The joke has given 42 cult status as shorthand for absurd or unknowable meaning.
Number lacking fractions
- evenUniform and level
- digitSingle numeric character
- forty-twoNumber after forty-one
- numeralSymbol denoting quantity
composite · multiple · mathematics · arithmetic · counting · quantity
Ultimate existential purpose
- MarvinMasculine name, Welsh origin
- BetelgeuseRed supergiant star
- towelAbsorbent fabric for drying
- supercomputerUltra-powerful computing system
- jersey numberDigit on athletic uniform
- rainbowRefracted light arc
- Orion NebulaEmission cloud near Earth
- Gutenberg BibleFirst mass-produced book
integer
Number lacking fractions
numeral · composite · multiple · mathematics · arithmetic · counting · quantity
meaning of life
Ultimate existential purpose
- MarvinMasculine name, Welsh origin
- BetelgeuseRed supergiant star
- towelAbsorbent fabric for drying
Jackie Robinson
- jersey numberDigit on athletic uniform
- rainbowRefracted light arc
- Orion NebulaEmission cloud near Earth
joke
Humorous statement seeking laughter
- punchlineHumor's final delivery
- anticlimacticDisappointingly weak after buildup
- absurdistBeliever in cosmic meaninglessness
satire · wit · irony · comedy · meaninglessness · deadpan · bathos · parody · funny · irreverent
enigma
Something hard to fathom
meaning · significance · arbitrary · absurdity · conundrum · inscrutable · paradox
- numbersone, two, four, three, 0
- History FilmsLincoln, Gettysburg, Glory, Selma, Saving Private Ryan
- 2013 FilmsGravity, American Hustle, Dallas Buyers Club, Captain Phillips, Nebraska
- Sports FilmsRocky, Rudy, Hoosiers, The Natural, Field of Dreams
- famous numberspi, e, zero, one, infinity
- Douglas AdamsArthur Dent, Ford Prefect, Marvin, forty-two, don't panic
42infinity
Unlimited extent or quantity
irrational numbers · imaginary numbers · 0 · zero · 43
42ordinal
Number denoting position
unknown · mystery · inquiry · uncertainty
Lack of significance
nothing · uncertainty · not knowing · absurdity · nihilism