English
twenty
Twenty comes from Old English twēntiġ, from Proto-Germanic *twaintigiwiz, a compound of *twai ‘two’ and *teguz ‘group of ten’.
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*twaintigiwizreconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150twēntiġliterally ‘two tens’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500twenty
- Englishearliest quotation 1934same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*twaintigiwizreconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150twēntiġliterally ‘two tens’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500twenty
- Englishearliest quotation 1934same form
Earliest quotation: 1934, Ernest Bramah: “Of course I can do them just the same…”
A compound of *twai ‘two’ + *teguz ‘group of ten’
Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁ ‘two’
Proto-Germanic *twai ‘two’
Proto-Indo-European *déḱm̥-t(-s) ~ *dḱm̥-t-és ‘group of ten, decad’
Proto-Germanic *teguz ‘group of ten’
Every English word from Proto-Germanic *twaintigiwiz
Today it means
num The cardinal number 20, occurring after nineteen and before twenty-one.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *twaintigiwiz / twenty