šest (Serbo-Croatian)
Where does "šest" come from?
The Serbo-Croatian word 'šest' traces its ancestry back to the Proto-Indo-European *swéḱs, the ancient root for the number six. It evolved through Proto-Balto-Slavic into the Proto-Slavic *šestь. Along the way, the word gained an extra 't' sound, which was likely borrowed from the older Slavic word for 'sixth'.
Full etymology tree
- šest (Serbo-Croatian), 'six (6)'
- inherited *šestь (Proto-Slavic), 'six'
- derived *šešti (Pre-Slavic)
- inherited *šéš (Proto-Balto-Slavic), 'six'
- inherited *swéḱs (Proto-Indo-European), 'six'
- influence *septḿ̥ (Proto-Indo-European), 'seven'
- inherited *swéḱs (Proto-Indo-European), 'six'
- inherited *šéš (Proto-Balto-Slavic), 'six'
- influence *šestъ (Proto-Slavic), 'sixth'
- inherited *seśtas (Proto-Balto-Slavic)
- inherited *uśtas (Proto-Balto-Slavic)
- inherited *seśtas (Proto-Balto-Slavic)
- derived *šešti (Pre-Slavic)
- inherited *šestь (Proto-Slavic), 'six'
Ancestors
- *šestь (Proto-Slavic)
- *swéḱs (Proto-Indo-European)
Updated July 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris