English

five

/ˈfaɪ̯v/
A numerical value equal to 5; the number following four and preceding six.

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    Origin

    PIE word

    *pénkʷe

    Etymology tree

    Proto-Indo-European *pénkʷe

    Proto-Germanic *fimf

    Proto-West Germanic *fimf

    Old English fīf

    Middle English fyf

    English five

    From Middle English fyf, fyve, from Old English fīf (“five”), from Proto-West Germanic *fimf (“five”), from Proto-Germanic *fimf (“five”), from Proto-Indo-European *pénkʷe.

    See also West Frisian fiif, Dutch vijf, German fünf, Norwegian and Swedish fem, Icelandic fimm; also Welsh pump, Latin quinque, Tocharian A päñ, Tocharian B piś, Lithuanian penki, Russian пять (pjatʹ), Albanian pesë, pêsë, Ancient Greek πέντε (pénte), Armenian հինգ (hing), Persian پنج (panj), Sanskrit पञ्च (páñca). Doublet of cinque, fin (“five currency units”), finnuf, pimp (“five”), ponzu, punch (“beverage”), and sengi (“currency”); related to Pompeii.

    The nasal *m in Proto-Germanic *fimf was lost through a sound change known as the Ingvaeonic nasal spirant law.

    From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

    Lineage

    • inheritedMiddle Englishfyf
      • inheritedOld Englishfīf “five”
        • inheritedProto-West Germanic*fimf
          • inheritedProto-Germanic*fimf “five”
            • inheritedProto-Indo-European*pénkʷe “five; hand”

    Related: English punch (doublet), English fin (doublet), English pimp (doublet), English cinque (doublet), English ponzu (doublet), English sengi (doublet), English finnuf (doublet), West Frisian fiif, Dutch vijf, German fünf, Swedish fem, Icelandic fimm, Welsh pump, Latin quinque, Tocharian A päñ, Tocharian B piś, Lithuanian penki, Russian пять, Albanian pesë, Ancient Greek πέντε, Armenian հինգ, Persian پنج, Sanskrit पञ्च

    Words built on it: high five

    Sources