Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “twothirds” come from?

Two-thirds comes from English two and English third, which derives from Middle English thridde, Old English þridda, Proto-Germanic twai, and Proto-Indo-European dwóh₁ and tréyes.

twothirds (English): Two thirds; the amount or proportion...

Definitions

  1. Two thirds; the amount or proportion...

Ancestry of “twothirds”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishthirdThe ordinal form of the cardinal number three;...
2Middle Englishthirde—
3Old Englishþriddathird
4Proto-West Germanic*þriddjō—
5Proto-Germanicþridjôthird
6Proto-Indo-Europeantretyós—
7Proto-Indo-Europeantr̥tyósthird
8Proto-Indo-Europeantréyesthree
Every word from Proto-Indo-European tréyes →