τέσσαρες (Ancient Greek)

Where does "τέσσαρες" come from?

The Ancient Greek word 'τέσσαρες' meaning 'four' traces its origins back to the Proto-Indo-European root *kʷetwóres. This ancient number is remarkably stable across history, appearing in various forms across languages such as Latin 'quattuor', Sanskrit 'catur', and eventually evolving into the English 'four'.

Full etymology tree

• τέσσαρες (téssares) (Ancient Greek), 'four'
  • inherited *kʷétwores (Proto-Hellenic), 'four'
    • inherited *kʷetwóres (Proto-Indo-European), 'four'
      • derived **kʷet- (Proto-Indo-European)
      • derived **kʷetu- (Proto-Indo-European)

Ancestors

• *kʷétwores (Proto-Hellenic)
• *kʷetwóres (Proto-Indo-European)

Cognates and doublets

• four (English)
• quattuor (Latin)
• չորք (Old Armenian)
• feower (Old English)
• चतुर् (Sanskrit)

Descendants and derived words

• τέσσερις (Greek)
• τεσσαράκοντα (Ancient Greek)
• τετρα- (Ancient Greek)
• tessara- (English)

Updated July 2026

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