Where does “decade” come from?
decade (Middle English) comes from Middle French decade, from Latin decās, from Ancient Greek δεκάς, from Ancient Greek -ᾰ́ς, from Proto-Indo-European -ónts, from Hungarian önt, from Hungarian ön, from Hungarian ön- — sound, voice.
Ancestry of “decade”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle French | decade | a series of 10 books |
| 2 | Latin | decās | a decade (period of ten years) |
| 3 | Ancient Greek | δεκάς | the number ten; a group of ten, decade |
| 4 | Ancient Greek | -ᾰ́ς | group of |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | -ónts | Derives nouns denoting body parts |
| 6 | Hungarian | önt | to pour; to cast; accusative singular of ön |
| 7 | Hungarian | ön | you |
| 8 | Hungarian | ön- | self- |
| 9 | Turkish | ön | front |
| 10 | Ottoman Turkish | اوك | voice (of human or animal); sound |
| 11 | Proto-Turkic | ǖn | sound, voice |