sechs (German)
Where does "sechs" come from?
The German word 'sechs' traces its origins back to the ancient Proto-Indo-European root *swéḱs. Over millennia, it evolved through Proto-Germanic and Proto-West Germanic as *sehs, maintaining a remarkably stable form throughout the transition into Old and Middle High German. This linguistic continuity reflects a shared ancestral heritage that connects 'sechs' to many other Indo-European words for the number six.
Full etymology tree
- sechs (German), 'six (numerical value represented by the Arabic numeral 6; or describing a set with six elements)'
- inherited sehs (Middle High German)
- inherited sehs (Old High German), 'six'
- inherited *sehs (Proto-West Germanic), 'six'
- inherited *sehs (Proto-Germanic), 'six'
- inherited *swéḱs (Proto-Indo-European), 'six'
- derived *wéḱs (Proto-Indo-European)
- inherited *swéḱs (Proto-Indo-European), 'six'
- inherited *sehs (Proto-Germanic), 'six'
- inherited *sehs (Proto-West Germanic), 'six'
- inherited sehs (Old High German), 'six'
- inherited sehs (Middle High German)
Ancestors
- sehs (Old High German)
- *sehs (Proto-West Germanic)
- *sehs (Proto-Germanic)
- *swéḱs (Proto-Indo-European)
Updated July 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris