un (Catalan)
Where does "un" come from?
The Catalan article 'un' traces its ancestry back to the Proto-Indo-European root *h₁óynos, which meant 'one'. This root evolved through Proto-Italic and Latin as 'ūnum' before shifting into the modern Romance languages. It shares a deep linguistic connection with the English word 'one', reflecting their common origin.
Full etymology tree
- un (Catalan), 'an; the indefinite article'
- inherited ūnum (unum) (Latin), 'inflection of ūnus:'
- inherited ūnus (unus) (Latin), 'one, single'
- inherited oinos (Latin), 'one'
- inherited *oinos (Proto-Italic), 'one'
- inherited *h₁óynos (Proto-Indo-European), 'one'
- derived *éy (Proto-Indo-European)
- influence ἴα (ía) (Ancient Greek), 'feminine nominative/vocative singular of εἷς (heîs)'
- inherited *ih₂ (Proto-Indo-European)
- derived *i- (Proto-Indo-European)
- inherited *ih₂ (Proto-Indo-European)
- inherited *h₁óynos (Proto-Indo-European), 'one'
- inherited *oinos (Proto-Italic), 'one'
- inherited oinos (Latin), 'one'
- inherited ūnus (unus) (Latin), 'one, single'
- inherited ūnum (unum) (Latin), 'inflection of ūnus:'
Ancestors
- unum (Latin)
- *oinos (Proto-Italic)
- *h₁óynos (Proto-Indo-European)
Cognates and doublets
- one (English)
- un (Occitan)
Updated July 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris