Etymograph

English

decener

Decener comes from Latin decēnus ‘a group of ten’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *déḱm̥.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*déḱm̥1‘ten’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*dekem1reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdecem2‘ten’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdecēnus3as decēna‘a group of ten’
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400decenier3
  6. Normanc. 1066–presentdecener3
  7. Englishtodaydecener3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin decem
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin decenus
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English decener

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*déḱm̥Wiktionary, Latin decem‘ten’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*dekemWiktionary, Latin decemreconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdecemWiktionary, Latin decenus‘ten’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdecēnusWiktionary, English deceneras decēna‘a group of ten’
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400decenierWiktionary, English decener
  6. Normanc. 1066–presentdecenerWiktionary, English decener
  7. EnglishtodaydecenerWiktionary, English decener

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *déḱm̥ ‘ten’

ten, hundred, dick, century, cent, decade, sen, den, diner, hectare, tenfold, dwt, denier, deca, 48 more

through Latin decem ‘ten’

dean, dozen, decimal, doyen, dicker, deni, 19 more

Today it means

noun A soldier commanding ten men.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “decener”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin decem, Latin decenus. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *déḱm̥ / decener

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