Etymograph

English

fifteenness

Fifteenness comes from Middle English fiftene ‘fifteen’, and goes back to Proto-Germanic *fimftehun.

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*fimftehun‘fifteen’reconstructed
  2. Anglian Old Englishmodernfīftīene
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500fiftene‘fifteen’
  4. English1500–presentfifteen
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1975fifteenness

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*fimftehun‘fifteen’reconstructed
  2. Anglian Old Englishmodernfīftīene
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500fiftene‘fifteen’
  4. English1500–presentfifteen
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1975fifteenness

Earliest quotation: 1975, Richard Buckminster Fuller, E. J. Applewhite: “The fifteenness is unique to the icosahedron and probably…”

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’

Today it means

noun The property of being fifteen.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *fimftehun / fifteenness