Where does “forty” come from?
Forty comes from Old English fēowertiġ, from Proto-Germanic fedwōr tigiwiz, literally meaning "four tens."
forty (English): The cardinal number occurring after thirty-nine...
Definitions
- The cardinal number occurring after thirty-nine...
Ancestry of “forty”, step by step
forty traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.
via English Y
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | Y | A figure or mark in the shape of the letter Y; A... |
| 2 | English | yuri | A narrative or visual work featuring a romance or... |
| 3 | Japanese | 百合 | lily |
| 4 | Japanese | 連用形 | an inflectional category: the continuative or... |
| 5 | Japanese | 見る | to see, to watch, to observe, to look at... |
| 6 | Japanese | 夢 | a dream; a vision; leaving reality to the state... |
| 7 | Old Japanese | 夢 | a dream |
| 8 | Japanese | 目 | an order in biology: smaller than a class, bigger... |
| 9 | Middle Chinese | 目 | — |
via English Fort
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | Fort | A fortified defensive structure stationed with troops |
| 2 | Middle French | fort | strong |
| 3 | Old French | fort | strong; strongly |
| 4 | Latin | fortis | strong, powerful; firm, resolute, steadfast,... |
| 5 | Old Latin | forctis | strong |
| 6 | Proto-Italic | forktis | strong, robust |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | bʰerǵʰ- | to rise; high, lofty; hill, mountain |
via Middle English fourty
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | fourty | forty |
| 2 | Old English | fēowertiġ | forty |
| 3 | Proto-West Germanic | *feuwar tigiwi | forty |