dek (Esperanto)

Where does "dek" come from?

The Esperanto word 'dek' traces its origins back to the ancient Proto-Indo-European root *déḱm̥, meaning 'ten.' This foundational term branched into both Ancient Greek as 'déka' and Latin as 'decem,' eventually being adopted into Esperanto to represent the same numerical value.

Full etymology tree

• dek (Esperanto), 'ten (10)'
  • derived δέκα (déka) (Ancient Greek), 'ten'
    • inherited *dékə (Proto-Hellenic), 'ten'
      • inherited *déḱm̥ (Proto-Indo-European), 'ten'
  • derived decem (Latin), 'ten; 10'
    • inherited *dekem (Proto-Italic)
      • inherited *déḱm̥ (Proto-Indo-European), 'ten'

Ancestors

• δέκα (Ancient Greek)
• decem (Latin)

Descendants and derived words

• deko (Esperanto)

Updated July 2026

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