keturi (Lithuanian)
Where does "keturi" come from?
The Lithuanian word 'keturi' traces its roots back to the ancient Proto-Indo-European term *kʷetwóres, meaning 'four.' It evolved through the Proto-Balto-Slavic bridge language as *ketū́res before settling into its modern Lithuanian form. This ancient numerical root is a linguistic ancestor shared across many branches of the Indo-European family, including English.
Full etymology tree
- keturi (Lithuanian), 'four (4)'
- inherited *ketū́res (Proto-Balto-Slavic), 'four'
- inherited *kʷetwóres (Proto-Indo-European), 'four'
- derived *kʷet-/*kʷetu- (Proto-Indo-European)
- inherited *kʷetwóres (Proto-Indo-European), 'four'
- inherited *ketū́res (Proto-Balto-Slavic), 'four'
Ancestors
- *ketū́res (Proto-Balto-Slavic)
- *kʷetwóres (Proto-Indo-European)
Updated July 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris