Etymograph

English

five

Five comes from Middle English fyf, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *pénkʷe.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pénkʷe1reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*fimf1reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*fimf1reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150fīf1
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500fyf1
  6. Englishearliest quotation 2006five1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English five
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2006, Donald Ringe, Oxford: Oxford University Press: “The r-stems had apparently been reduced to the five…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pénkʷeWiktionary, English fivereconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*fimfWiktionary, English fivereconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*fimfWiktionary, English fivereconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150fīfWiktionary, English five
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500fyfWiktionary, English five
  6. Englishearliest quotation 2006fiveWiktionary, English five. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2006, Donald Ringe, Oxford: Oxford University Press: “The r-stems had apparently been reduced to the five…”

The story

The nasal *m in Proto-Germanic *fimf was lost through a sound change known as the Ingvaeonic nasal spirant law.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Word family

English words that share an ancestor with five, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.

through Proto-Indo-European *pénkʷe

  • fifth ← fifthe ← fīfta ← *fimftô ← *penkʷtós
  • punch ← पाँच ← پانچ ← पंच ← 𑀧𑀁𑀘
  • finger ← fynger ← *fingr ← *fingraz ← *penkʷrós
  • pentagon ← pentagone ← pentagōnum ← πεντάγωνον ← πεντάγωνος
  • pimp ← *pɨmp ← *kʷenkʷe
  • quintet ← quintette ← quintetto ← quinto ← quintus
  • quint ← quīntus ← quīnctus ← *kʷenktos ← *penkʷtós
  • cinque ← cynk ← cinq ← quīnque ← *kʷenkʷe
  • quine ← quīnī ← quīnus

through Proto-West Germanic *fimf

  • fin ← פֿינף ← vünf ← fimf

25 more relatives in the full family tree

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Today it means

num A numerical value equal to 5; the number following four and preceding six.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “five”. 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 *pénkʷe / five