tre (Danish)
Where does "tre" come from?
The Danish word 'tre' descends directly from the ancient Proto-Indo-European root *tréyes, which held the same meaning of three. This word evolved through Proto-Germanic and Proto-Norse before becoming the Old Norse 'þrír.' Ultimately, the modern Danish form represents a merger of various masculine and feminine grammatical cases used in the language's early history.
Full etymology tree
- tre (Danish), 'three'
- inherited þrēa (East Old Norse)
- inherited þrír (Old Norse), 'three'
- inherited *ᚦᚱᛁᛃᛟᛉ (þrijoʀ) (Proto-Norse), 'three'
- compound *þrīz (Proto-Germanic), 'three'
- inherited *tréyes (Proto-Indo-European), 'three'
- suffix -ᛟᛉ (-oʀ) (Proto-Norse)
- compound *þrīz (Proto-Germanic), 'three'
- inherited *ᚦᚱᛁᛃᛟᛉ (þrijoʀ) (Proto-Norse), 'three'
- inherited þrír (Old Norse), 'three'
- inherited þrēaʀ (East Old Norse)
- inherited þrír (Old Norse), 'three'
- inherited *ᚦᚱᛁᛃᛟᛉ (þrijoʀ) (Proto-Norse), 'three'
- compound *þrīz (Proto-Germanic), 'three'
- inherited *tréyes (Proto-Indo-European), 'three'
- suffix -ᛟᛉ (-oʀ) (Proto-Norse)
- compound *þrīz (Proto-Germanic), 'three'
- inherited *ᚦᚱᛁᛃᛟᛉ (þrijoʀ) (Proto-Norse), 'three'
- inherited þrír (Old Norse), 'three'
- inherited þrēa (East Old Norse)
Direct ancestors
Updated July 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris