ἑπτά (Ancient Greek)

Where does "ἑπτά" come from?

The Ancient Greek numeral ἑπτά stems from the Proto-Indo-European root *septḿ̥, a word that echoes throughout history in Latin's septem and English's seven. Interestingly, linguists suggest this foundational number may have been an ancient 'culture word' shared between early Indo-European and Semitic peoples through direct contact, reflecting deep, cross-cultural roots dating back to the 14th century BCE.

Full etymology tree

• ἑπτά (heptá) (Ancient Greek), 'seven.'
  • inherited *heptə́ (Proto-Hellenic), 'seven'
    • inherited *septḿ̥ (Proto-Indo-European), 'seven'
      • borrowed *šabʕ- (Proto-Semitic), 'seven'
        • inherited *sṗɣ (Proto-Afroasiatic)

Ancestors

• *heptə́ (Proto-Hellenic)
• *septḿ̥ (Proto-Indo-European)

Cognates and doublets

• seven (English)
• septem (Latin)
• եօթն (Old Armenian)
• seofon (Old English)
• सप्त (Sanskrit)

Descendants and derived words

• επτά (Greek)
• ἑπταβόειος (Ancient Greek)
• hepta- (English)
• εφτά (Greek)
• efta (Romani)

Updated July 2026

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