three (English)
Where does "three" come from?
The English word 'three' traces its origins back to the ancient Proto-Indo-European term *tréyes. This numerical root traveled through Proto-Germanic and Proto-West Germanic stages before shaping the Old English 'þrī' and eventually becoming the Middle English 'thre.' Today, it remains a linguistic relative to many famous cognates across other languages, such as the Latin 'trēs' and the Greek 'treís.'
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 þrī (Old English), 'three'
- inherited *þrīʀ (Proto-West Germanic), 'three'
- inherited *þrīz (Proto-Germanic), 'three'
- inherited *tréyes (Proto-Indo-European), 'three'
- inherited *þrīz (Proto-Germanic), 'three'
- inherited *þrīʀ (Proto-West Germanic), 'three'
- inherited þrī (Old English), 'three'
- inherited thre (Middle English), 'three'
Direct ancestors
- thre (Middle English)
- þri (Old English)
- þrīʀ (Proto-West Germanic)
- þrīz (Proto-Germanic)
- tréyes (Proto-Indo-European)
- tres (English)
- trey (English)
- drei (German)
Updated July 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris