čtyři (Czech)
Where does "čtyři" come from?
The Czech word 'čtyři' traces its ancestry back to the Proto-Indo-European root *kʷetwóres, meaning 'four.' It evolved through the Proto-Balto-Slavic *ketū́res and Proto-Slavic *četyre stages before passing through Old Czech to become the modern term we use today.
Full etymology tree
- čtyři (Czech), 'four'
- inherited čtyřie (Old Czech), 'four'
- inherited čtyři (Old Czech), 'inflection of čtyřie (“four (4)”):'
- inherited *četyre (Proto-Slavic), 'four'
- inherited *ketū́res (Proto-Balto-Slavic), 'four'
- inherited *kʷetwóres (Proto-Indo-European), 'four'
- inherited *ketū́res (Proto-Balto-Slavic), 'four'
- inherited *četyre (Proto-Slavic), 'four'
- influence třie (Old Czech), 'three'
- inherited čtyři (Old Czech), 'inflection of čtyřie (“four (4)”):'
- inherited čtyřie (Old Czech), 'four'
Ancestors
- *četyre (Proto-Slavic)
- *ketū́res (Proto-Balto-Slavic)
- *kʷetwóres (Proto-Indo-European)
Updated July 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris