apat (Tagalog)

Where does "apat" come from?

The Tagalog word 'apat' traces its origins back to the ancient Proto-Austronesian term *Sa-Səpat, meaning 'four'. Over millennia, it evolved through Proto-Malayo-Polynesian and Proto-Philippine stages before settling into its modern form. It remains a direct linguistic relative of the variant 'ipat'.

Full etymology tree

• apat (Tagalog), 'four'
  • inherited *a-əpat (Proto-Philippine)
    • inherited *a-əpat (Proto-Malayo-Polynesian)
      • derived *Sa-Səpat (Proto-Austronesian)
      • derived *əpat (Proto-Malayo-Polynesian), 'four'
        • inherited *Səpat (Proto-Austronesian), 'four'
    • derived *əpat (Proto-Philippine), 'four'
      • inherited *Səpat (Proto-Austronesian), 'four'

Ancestors

• *əpat (Proto-Philippine)
• *əpat (Proto-Malayo-Polynesian)
• *Səpat (Proto-Austronesian)

Descendants and derived words

• apatan (Tagalog)
• apatan (Tagalog)
• apatan (Tagalog)
• apatan (Tagalog)
• apatnapu (Tagalog)
• apatnaraan (Tagalog)
• ikaapat (Tagalog)
• ikaapat (Tagalog)
• ikaapat na kapangyarihan (Tagalog)
• ikaapat na palarindingan (Tagalog)
• labing-apat (Tagalog)
• sangkapat (Tagalog)

Updated July 2026

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