cinco (Portuguese)
Where does "cinco" come from?
The Portuguese word 'cinco' traces its origins back to the Proto-Indo-European root *pénkʷe, which held the same meaning of five. This term evolved through Proto-Italic and Latin as 'quīnque' before shifting to the Vulgar Latin 'cīnque' and eventually entering Old Galician-Portuguese. It shares a deep linguistic ancestry with the English word 'five,' both of which likely emerged from ancient terms related to the hand or fingers.
Full etymology tree
- cinco (Portuguese), 'five'
- inherited cinco (Old Galician-Portuguese)
- inherited cīnque (Latin), 'alternative form of quīnque (with dissimilation of /kʷ–kʷ/ to /k–kʷ/)'
- inherited quīnque (Latin), 'five; 5'
- inherited *kʷenkʷe (Proto-Italic), 'five'
- inherited *pénkʷe (Proto-Indo-European), 'five'
- inherited *kʷenkʷe (Proto-Italic), 'five'
- inherited quīnque (Latin), 'five; 5'
- inherited cīnque (Latin), 'alternative form of quīnque (with dissimilation of /kʷ–kʷ/ to /k–kʷ/)'
- inherited cinco (Old Galician-Portuguese)
Ancestors
- cinque (Latin)
- quinque (Latin)
Updated July 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris