English
fifteener
Fifteener comes from Middle English fiftene ‘fifteen’, and goes back to Proto-Germanic *fimftehun.
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*fimftehun‘fifteen’reconstructed
- Anglian Old Englishmodernfīftīene
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500fiftene‘fifteen’
- English1500–presentfifteen
- Englishearliest quotation 1880fifteener
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*fimftehun‘fifteen’reconstructed
- Anglian Old Englishmodernfīftīene
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500fiftene‘fifteen’
- English1500–presentfifteen
- Englishearliest quotation 1880fifteener
Earliest quotation: 1880, William Blades, The Enemies of Books: “When here and there throughout those volumes you meet…”
A compound of *fimf ‘five’ + *tehun ‘ten’
Proto-Indo-European *pénkʷe ‘five’
Proto-Germanic *fimf ‘five’
Proto-Indo-European *déḱm̥ ‘ten’
Proto-Germanic *tehun ‘ten’
Every English word from Proto-Germanic *fimftehun
Today it means
noun A film assigned an age rating of 15, those under 15 not being permitted to view it.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *fimftehun / fifteener