three (English)

Where does "three" come from?

The English word 'three' descends through Middle English 'thre'[1] and Old English 'þrī'[1], going back to Proto-West Germanic '*þrīʀ'[1] and Proto-Germanic '*þrīz'[1]. These forms ultimately trace to the Proto-Indo-European reconstructed root '*tréyes'[1]. This ancient numeral shares cognates across many language families, including Latin 'trēs', Greek 'τρεῖς', and German 'drei'.

Open questions

• The original meaning of the Proto-Indo-European root has been suggested to mean middle or protruding finger, though this remains a reconstructed hypothesis. [3]

Full etymology tree

• three (English), 'A numerical value after two and before four. Represented in Arabic digits as 3; this many dots (•••).'
  • inherited thre (Middle English), 'three'
    • inherited þri (Old English), 'three'
      • inherited *þrīʀ (Proto-West Germanic), 'three'
        • inherited *þrīz (Proto-Germanic), 'three'
          • inherited *þrijiz (Proto-Germanic)
            • inherited *tréyes (Proto-Indo-European), 'three'

Ancestors

• thre (Middle English)
• þri (Old English)
• *þrīʀ (Proto-West Germanic)
• *þrīz (Proto-Germanic)
• *tréyes (Proto-Indo-European)

Cognates and doublets

• tre (Albanian)
• երեք (Armenian)
• tres (English)
• trey (English)
• drei (German)
• τρεις (Greek)
• tres (Latin)
• trīs (Latvian)
• trys (Lithuanian)
• трьѥ (Old Church Slavonic)

Related words

• one (English)
• two (English)
• four (English)
• five (English)

Sources

1. three (English) - Wiktionary
2. þri (Old English) - Wiktionary
3. tréyes (Proto-Indo-European) - Wiktionary
4. þrīz (Proto-Germanic) - Wiktionary
5. thre (Middle English) - Wiktionary
6. þrīʀ (Proto-West Germanic) - Wiktionary
7. thrie (Middle English) - Wiktionary

Updated October 2026

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