Where does “setengah dozen” come from?

setengah dozen (Malay) comes from Malay setengah, from Malay se, from Malay ĕsă, from Proto-Malayic əsa, from Proto-Malayo-Chamic əsa, from Proto-Malayo-Sumbawan əsa, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian əsa, from Proto-Austronesian *əsa.

setengah dozen (Malay): half a dozen

Definitions

  1. half a dozen

Ancestry of “setengah dozen”, step by step

setengah dozen traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Malay setengah

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Malaysetengaha half
2Malayseone
3MalayĕsăObsolete spelling of esa
4Proto-Malayicəsa
5Proto-Malayo-Chamicəsa
6Proto-Malayo-Sumbawanəsa
7Proto-Malayo-Polynesianəsaone
8Proto-Austronesian*əsa
9Proto-Oceanic*isa

via Malay dozen

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Malaydozen
Every word from Proto-Oceanic *isa