τέσσερις (Greek)
Where does "τέσσερις" come from?
The modern Greek word τέσσερις traces its roots back to the Proto-Indo-European *kʷetwóres, a term for the number four shared by countless ancient languages. It evolved through Proto-Hellenic into the Ancient Greek τέσσαρες before simplifying into its contemporary form. This linguistic ancestor also serves as the root for related words in many other branches of the family, including the English word 'four' and Latin 'quattuor'.
Full etymology tree
- τέσσερις (tésseris) (Greek), 'four, 4'
- inherited τέσσαρες (téssares) (Ancient Greek), 'four'
- inherited *kʷétwores (Proto-Hellenic), 'four'
- inherited *kʷetwóres (Proto-Indo-European), 'four'
- derived *kʷet- (Proto-Indo-European)
- inherited *kʷetwóres (Proto-Indo-European), 'four'
- inherited *kʷétwores (Proto-Hellenic), 'four'
- inherited τέσσαρες (téssares) (Ancient Greek), 'four'
Ancestors
- τέσσαρες (Ancient Greek)
- *kʷétwores (Proto-Hellenic)
- *kʷetwóres (Proto-Indo-European)
Updated July 2026
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Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris