семь (Russian)
Where does "семь" come from?
The Russian word 'семь' traces its origins back to the ancient Proto-Indo-European *septḿ̥, a root shared by many languages to signify the number seven. Through Proto-Slavic and Old East Slavic, the word evolved into its modern form as it moved through the linguistic history of the Slavic peoples. Interestingly, this ancient root may have originally functioned as a 'culture word,' reflecting early contacts between Indo-European peoples and their Semitic-speaking neighbors.
Full etymology tree
- семь (Russian), 'seven (7)'
- inherited семь (Old East Slavic), 'alternative form of седмь (sedmĭ)'
- inherited *sedmь (Proto-Slavic), 'seven'
- derived *sedmъ (Proto-Slavic), 'seventh'
- derived *sebdmъ (Proto-Slavic)
- derived *septmъ (Proto-Slavic)
- derived *septmas (Proto-Balto-Slavic)
- inherited *septm̥mós (Proto-Indo-European), 'seventh'
- derived *septmas (Proto-Balto-Slavic)
- derived *septmъ (Proto-Slavic)
- derived *sebdmъ (Proto-Slavic)
- derived *sedmъ (Proto-Slavic), 'seventh'
- inherited *sedmь (Proto-Slavic), 'seven'
- inherited седмь (Old East Slavic), 'seven (7)'
- inherited *sedmь (Proto-Slavic), 'seven'
- derived *sedmъ (Proto-Slavic), 'seventh'
- derived *sebdmъ (Proto-Slavic)
- derived *septmъ (Proto-Slavic)
- derived *septmas (Proto-Balto-Slavic)
- inherited *septm̥mós (Proto-Indo-European), 'seventh'
- derived *septmas (Proto-Balto-Slavic)
- derived *septmъ (Proto-Slavic)
- derived *sebdmъ (Proto-Slavic)
- derived *sedmъ (Proto-Slavic), 'seventh'
- inherited *sedmь (Proto-Slavic), 'seven'
- inherited семь (Old East Slavic), 'alternative form of седмь (sedmĭ)'
Ancestors
- семь (Old East Slavic)
- *sedmь (Proto-Slavic)
- *septḿ̥ (Proto-Indo-European)
Updated July 2026
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Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris