десять (Russian)
Where does "десять" come from?
The Russian word десять traces its roots back to the ancient Proto-Indo-European *déḱm̥t, a foundational term for the number ten which also gave us the English word 'ten' and the prefix 'deci-'. Through Proto-Balto-Slavic and Proto-Slavic, it evolved into Old East Slavic before settling into its modern form. Interestingly, the Russian suffix -дцать, used for numbers eleven through nineteen, shares this same distant linguistic ancestor.
Full etymology tree
- десять (desyat') (Russian), 'ten (10)'
- inherited десѧть (desęty) (Old East Slavic), 'ten (10)'
- inherited *desętь (Proto-Slavic), 'ten'
- inherited *déśimt (Proto-Balto-Slavic), 'ten'
- inherited *déḱm̥t (Proto-Indo-European)
- inherited *déśimt (Proto-Balto-Slavic), 'ten'
- inherited *desętь (Proto-Slavic), 'ten'
- inherited десѧть (desęty) (Old East Slavic), 'ten (10)'
Ancestors
- десѧть (Old East Slavic)
- *desętь (Proto-Slavic)
- *déśimt (Proto-Balto-Slavic)
- *déḱm̥ (Proto-Indo-European)
Cognates and doublets
- *desętь (Proto-Slavic)
Updated July 2026
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Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris