Where does “cinque” come from?
Cinque comes from Middle English cink, from Middle French cinq, from Latin quinque, meaning "five," ultimately from Proto-Indo-European pénkʷe.
cinque (English): A card, die, or domino with five spots or pips
Definitions
- A card, die, or domino with five spots or pips
Ancestry of “cinque”, step by step
cinque traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via Middle English cynk
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | cynk | cinque; the number five on dice |
| 2 | Middle French | cinq | five |
| 3 | Old French | cinc | five |
| 4 | Vulgar Latin | cinque | five |
| 5 | Latin | quīnque | five; 5 |
| 6 | Proto-Italic | kʷenkʷe | five |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | pénkʷe | five |
via Italian cinque
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Italian | cinque | five |