trois (French)

Where does "trois" come from?

The French word 'trois' traces its roots back to the Proto-Indo-European *tréyes. It evolved through the Proto-Italic *trēs and Latin trēs before passing into Old French and eventually settling into its modern form.

Full etymology tree

• trois (French), 'three'
  • inherited troys (Middle French), 'three'
    • inherited trois (Old French), 'three'
      • inherited trēs (Latin), 'three; 3'
        • inherited *trēs (Proto-Italic), 'three'
          • inherited *tréyes (Proto-Indo-European), 'three'
    • inherited treis (Old French), 'alternative form of trois (“three”)'
      • inherited trēs (Latin), 'three; 3'
        • inherited *trēs (Proto-Italic), 'three'
          • inherited *tréyes (Proto-Indo-European), 'three'

Direct ancestors

• trois (Old French)
• trois (Old French)
• tres (Latin)
• trēs (Proto-Italic)
• tréyes (Proto-Indo-European)

Updated July 2026

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