Etymology Explorer › Middle English

Where does “thre” come from?

thre (Middle English) comes from Old English þrī, from Proto-West Germanic þrīʀ, from Proto-Germanic þrīz, from Proto-Indo-European *tréyes.

thre (Middle English): three

Definitions

  1. three

Ancestry of “thre”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Englishþrī—
2Proto-West Germanicþrīʀthree
3Proto-Germanicþrīzthree
4Proto-Indo-European*tréyes—

Words derived from “thre”

  • three
  • distribution
  • contribution
  • contribute
  • tribes
  • attribute
  • tribe
  • tribal
  • triangle
  • contributing
  • tribute
  • trivial
  • tribunal
  • distribute
  • triple
  • trench
  • attributable
  • retribution
  • redistribution
  • Trinidad
  • attribution
  • tributary
  • distributor
  • trimester
Every word from Proto-Indo-European *tréyes →