Etymograph

English

six

Six comes from Middle English six, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *swéḱs.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*swéḱs1reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*sehs1reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*sehs1reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150six1
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500six1
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1838six1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English six
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1838, Francis Bisset Hawkins, Literature: “In Austria the prisoners rise at five, [...]. There…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*swéḱsWiktionary, English sixreconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*sehsWiktionary, English sixreconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*sehsWiktionary, English sixreconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150sixWiktionary, English six
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sixWiktionary, English six
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1838sixWiktionary, English six. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1838, Francis Bisset Hawkins, Literature: “In Austria the prisoners rise at five, [...]. There…”

The story

Toilet sense predates military usage.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Word family

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

through Proto-Indo-European *swéḱs

16 more relatives in the full family tree

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Today it means

num A numerical value equal to 6; the number following five and preceding seven. This number of dots: (••••••).

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “six”. 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 *swéḱs / six