English
ten
Ten comes from Middle English ten, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *déḱm̥.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*déḱm̥reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*tehunreconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*tehunreconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150tīen
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500ten
- Englishearliest quotation 1905ten
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*déḱm̥reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*tehunreconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*tehunreconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150tīen
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500ten
- Englishearliest quotation 1905ten
Earliest quotation: 1905, Lord Dunsany [i.e., The Sayings of Slid (whose Soul is by the Sea): “There is a melody upon the Earth as though…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *déḱm̥
century, hundred, dick, decade, dean, cent, dozen, diner, den, sen, decimal, hectare, deca, denier, dwt, doyen, deni, 51 more
through Old English tīen
through Middle English ten
Today it means
num The number occurring after nine and before eleven, represented in Arabic numerals (base ten) as 10 and in Roman numerals as X.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *déḱm̥ / ten