"Fortnight" is a length of time, meaning two weeks. As Bramwell says, it comes from 'fourteen nights. You can use it any time you want to refer to this period of time.
You can say, for example. "I'm going to Spain in a fortnight" ( meaning that you're leaving in two weeks' time) or "I'm going to Spain for a fortnight" (meaning that you're going to spend two weeks there). You can say "I visit my parents once a fortnight", meaning twice a month. You can say "I've got a fortnight's leave", meaning that you've got two weeks off work. And so on.
The answers that Cole and Leslie have given apply only to the American perspective.