eleven (English)

Where does "eleven" come from?

The English word eleven traces back through Middle English 'elleven' and Old English 'endleofan' to Proto-Germanic '*ainalif', which literally meant 'one left' as in one left over after counting to ten[1][2]. This Germanic compound combines '*ainaz' meaning 'one' with an element meaning left over[3]. These roots ultimately descend from Proto-Indo-European formations associated with leaving or remaining[1][3].

Open questions

• The shift of primary stress from the first to the second syllable in Middle English forms is unexpected. [5]
• The Proto-Germanic verb is sometimes connected to Proto-Indo-European roots meaning to stick or to leave, though the appearance of a voiced Verner alternant is unexpected. [7]

Full etymology tree

• eleven (English), 'The cardinal number occurring after ten and before twelve. Represented as 11 in Arabic digits.'
  • inherited elleven (Middle English), 'eleven'
    • inherited endleofan (Old English), 'eleven'
      • inherited *ainalif (Proto-Germanic), 'eleven'
        • compound *ainaz (Proto-Germanic), 'one'
          • inherited *h₁óynos (Proto-Indo-European), 'one'
        • compound *-lif (Proto-Germanic), 'Used in Proto-Germanic *ainalif and Proto-Germanic *twalif by compounding with *ainaz (“one”) and *twai (“two”), in the sense of how many are left over after counting ten.'
          • inherited *lībaną (Proto-Germanic), 'to remain, to be left'
            • derived *leyp- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to stick'
            • derived *leykʷ- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to leave'

Ancestors

• *leyp- (Proto-Indo-European)
• elleven (Middle English)
• endleofan (Old English)
• *ainalif (Proto-Germanic)

Cognates and doublets

• eleven (Danish)
• elf (Dutch)
• elf (German)
• ellefu (Icelandic)
• alve (West Frisian)

Descendants and derived words

• elevener (English)
• elevenie (English)
• elevenish (English)
• elevenish (English)
• elevenness (English)
• elevenpence (English)
• elevenpenny (English)
• elevenscore (English)
• elevenses (English)
• elevensies (English)
• eleventeen (English)
• eleventh (English)

Sources

1. eleven (English) - Wiktionary
2. endleofan (Old English) - Wiktionary
3. ainalif (Proto-Germanic) - Wiktionary
4. leyp- (Proto-Indo-European) - Wiktionary
5. elleven (Middle English) - Wiktionary
6. ainaz (Proto-Germanic) - Wiktionary
7. lībaną (Proto-Germanic) - Wiktionary

Updated September 2026

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Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris