sebun (Proto-West Germanic)

Where does "sebun" come from?

The Proto-West Germanic numeral 'sebun'[1], meaning 'seven'[1], descends from Proto-Germanic '*sebun'[1]. This Germanic form developed from earlier '*sebunt'[2], which traces back to Pre-Germanic '*sepḿ̥t'[2], a metathetic alteration of Proto-Indo-European '*septḿ̥'[2]. The final '-t' in the early Germanic forms arose through the influence of neighbouring numerals such as '*newun'[2].

Open questions

The Pre-Germanic form '*sepḿ̥t' is considered a metathetic alteration of Proto-Indo-European '*septḿ̥', with the final '-t' positioned through the influence of '*newun' and '*tehun'. [2]
The Proto-Indo-European term may be a borrowing from Proto-Semitic '*šabʕ-', and the numeral has been suggested to be a culture word in Anatolia and Mesopotamia. [3]

Full etymology tree

*sebun (Proto-West Germanic), 'seven'
- inherited *sebun (Proto-Germanic), 'seven'
  - inherited *sebunt (Proto-Germanic)
    - inherited *sepḿ̥t (Pre-Germanic)
      - inherited *septḿ̥ (Proto-Indo-European), 'seven'
    - influenced by *newun (Proto-Germanic), 'nine'
    - influenced by *tehun (Proto-Germanic), 'ten'

Ancestors

*sebun (Proto-Germanic)

Descendants and derived words

seofon (Old English)
sibun (Old High German)
seofo (Old English)
seofun (Old English)
sifu (Old English)
siofu (Old English)
siofun (Old English)
sufon (Old English)
syfon (Old English)
siugun (Old Frisian)
sivun (Old Saxon)

Sources

Updated October 2026

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