dez (Portuguese)
Where does "dez" come from?
The Portuguese word 'dez' originates from the ancient Proto-Indo-European root '*déḱm̥', which means 'ten'. It evolved into the Latin 'decem' before passing into Old Galician-Portuguese and eventually settling into its modern form.
Full etymology tree
- dez (Portuguese), 'ten'
- inherited dez (Old Galician-Portuguese)
- inherited decem (Latin), 'ten; 10'
- inherited *dekem (Proto-Italic)
- inherited *déḱm̥ (Proto-Indo-European), 'ten'
- inherited *dekem (Proto-Italic)
- inherited decem (Latin), 'ten; 10'
- inherited dez (Old Galician-Portuguese)
Ancestors
- decem (Latin)
- *déḱm̥ (Proto-Indo-European)
Updated July 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris