anim (Tagalog)

Where does "anim" come from?

The Tagalog word 'anim,' meaning six, traces its roots back to the ancient Proto-Austronesian term *a-ənəm. This numeral traveled through the Proto-Malayo-Polynesian and Proto-Philippine language stages, evolving into the various forms seen across the archipelago and beyond, including the Malay 'enam' and Cebuano 'unom.' Linguists trace this origin to a conceptual dualism, where the number six was originally constructed from the combination of two groups of three.

Full etymology tree

• anim (Tagalog), 'six'
  • inherited *aʔənəm (Proto-Philippine)
    • inherited *a-ənəm (Proto-Malayo-Polynesian)
      • inherited *a-ənəm (Proto-Austronesian)
        • derived *ənəm (Proto-Austronesian), 'six'
          • compound *du- (Proto-Austronesian)
          • compound *duma (Proto-Austronesian), 'other'
            • derived *dum (Proto-Sino-Austronesian)
            • derived *duSa (Proto-Austronesian), 'two'
            • derived *ma- (Proto-Austronesian)

Ancestors

• *ənəm (Proto-Philippine)
• *ənəm (Proto-Malayo-Polynesian)
• *ənəm (Proto-Austronesian)

Cognates and doublets

• an-om (Aklanon)
• anom (Bikol Central)
• unom (Cebuano)
• anam (Kapampangan)
• enam (Malay)
• nem (Maranao)

Descendants and derived words

• aanim (Tagalog)
• animnapu (Tagalog)
• animnapu't anim (Tagalog)
• animnapu't apat (Tagalog)
• animnapu't dalawa (Tagalog)
• animnapu't isa (Tagalog)
• animnapu't lima (Tagalog)
• animnapu't pito (Tagalog)
• animnapu't siyam (Tagalog)
• animnapu't tatlo (Tagalog)
• animnapu't walo (Tagalog)
• animnaraan (Tagalog)

Updated July 2026

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Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris