četri (Latvian)
Where does "četri" come from?
The Latvian word "četri" traces its roots back to the Proto-Indo-European *kʷetwóres, a term for the number four that also birthed cognates like the Latin "quattuor" and Sanskrit "catur." Evolving through Proto-Baltic as *ketur-, the word initially appeared in Latvian as "cetri." Over time, the initial sound shifted under Slavic influence to the modern "č," solidified by changes in the word's final vowel.
Full etymology tree
- četri (Latvian), 'four (the cipher, the cardinal number four; sometimes undeclined)'
- inherited cetri (Latvian)
- inherited *ketur- (Proto-Baltic)
- inherited *kʷetwóres (Proto-Indo-European), 'four'
- compound *kʷa- (Proto-Indo-European)
- compound *tʷer- (Proto-Indo-European)
- inherited *kʷetwóres (Proto-Indo-European), 'four'
- inherited *ketur- (Proto-Baltic)
- inherited cetri (Latvian)
Cognates and doublets
- τέτταρες (Ancient Greek)
- чатыры (Belarusian)
- четири (Bulgarian)
- čtyři (Czech)
- quattuor (Latin)
- keturi (Lithuanian)
- четꙑре (Old Church Slavonic)
- kettwirts (Old Prussian)
- cztery (Polish)
- четыре (Russian)
- चतुर् (Sanskrit)
- чотири (Ukrainian)
Updated July 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris