vier (German)
Where does "vier" come from?
The German word 'vier' traces its roots back to the ancient Proto-Indo-European *kʷetwṓr, which represents the numerical value four. Over millennia, it evolved through Proto-Germanic and Proto-West Germanic stages to become Old High German 'fior' and eventually modern 'vier'. This word is a linguistic sibling to related terms in other Germanic languages, including the English 'four' and the Dutch 'vier'.
Full etymology tree
- vier (German), 'four (numerical value represented by the Arabic numeral 4; or describing a set with four elements)'
- inherited vier (Middle High German)
- inherited fior (Old High German), 'four'
- inherited *feuwar (Proto-West Germanic), 'four'
- inherited *fewwār (Proto-West Germanic)
- inherited *fedwōr (Proto-Germanic), 'four'
- inherited *kʷetwṓr (Proto-Indo-European)
- inherited *petwṓr (Proto-Indo-European)
- influence *pénkʷe (Proto-Germanic)
- inherited *kʷetwṓr (Proto-Indo-European)
- inherited *fedwōr (Proto-Germanic), 'four'
- inherited *fewwār (Proto-West Germanic)
- inherited *feuwar (Proto-West Germanic), 'four'
- inherited fior (Old High German), 'four'
- inherited vier (Middle High German)
Ancestors
- fior (Old High German)
- *feuwar (Proto-West Germanic)
- *fedwōr (Proto-Germanic)
Cognates and doublets
Descendants and derived words
- vierfach (German)
- vierjährig (German)
- vierminütig (German)
- viermonatig (German)
- vierstündig (German)
- viertägig (German)
- vierte (German)
- vierwöchig (German)
- vierzig (German)
Updated July 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris