cinc

Forms

cinc m or f^[1] Ausiàs March writes cinch.^[2] The DCVB records [síŋk] and [síŋ], Wiktionary gives [ˈsiŋ] for Central, Northern and North-Western Catalan and [ˈsiŋk] for Balearic and Valencian.^[3][1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin cinque (“five”), the Vulgar Latin form of classical quīnque.^{[4][3][5][6][1]} The first /kʷ/ became /k/ by dissimilation from the second, and ⟨cinque⟩ is already frequent in inscriptions of the Christian era.^[4][7]

The same Vulgar Latin form is Italian cinque, French cinq, Occitan cinc and Romanian cinci; Spanish cinco and Portuguese cinco owe their -o probably to the influence of the number "four".^[8][4][7]

The Latin numeral comes from *kʷenkʷe, from *pénkʷe, whose /p/ became /kʷ/ by assimilation to the second consonant.^[9][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Coromines dates the numeral to the origins of the language, citing Llull.^[4] In the Llibre de contemplació Llull wishes for minstrels who would go about the squares and courts telling of the five bodily senses, los cinc senys corporals, and of the five powers of the soul.^[10]

Semantic evolution

The numeral has kept its meaning; its history is in the words built on it.^[4][5] Cinc-cents "five hundred" is in Desclot, cinquanta and cinquè in Llull.^[5] The ordinal cinquantè became in 1415 a tax term, a fiftieth part paid on a sale, and cinquantena is recorded in 1391.^[4] Cinquagesma, from Latin quinquagesima, has meant Whitsun since Llull, and is still the commonest name for it in the dialects.^[4][5]

The dictionary of 1803 gives the plant cinc en rama and the phrase per quins cinc sous?, "for what reason?".^[11] The DIEC2 adds the use as an ordinal (el cinc d’octubre) and les cinc, five o'clock.^[12]

Timeline

• 1270s – los cinc senys corporals in Llull's Llibre de contemplació.^[10]
• Late 13th century – cinc-cents in Desclot's chronicle.^[5]
• 1294 – Llull's Lo sisè seny.^[2]
• 1391 – the derivative cinquantena.^[4]
• 1415 – cinquantè as a tax term.^[4]
• 1803 – per quins cinc sous? in the dictionary of Esteve, Bellvitges and Juglà.^[11]
• 1932 – Fabra's dictionary.^[13]

Meanings

Numeral

1. five, four plus one: Té cinc germanes.^[12][6]
2. fifth, in an ordered series: el pis cinc.^[12][6]

Noun

1. (masculine) The number five or the figure 5; a card with five pips.^[12][6]
2. (feminine plural) les cinc: five o'clock.^[12]
3. (castells) A human tower built with five people on each level.^[1]

Word family

• cinquanta
• cinquantè
• cinquantena
• cinquè
• cinquet
• cinc-cents

Related words

• quinze
• quint
• Latin quīnque
• Spanish cinco
• Occitan cinc

Usage notes

Per quins cinc sous? asks why or for what reason.^[14][13]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Torruella, Joan; Pérez Saldanya, Manuel; Martines, Josep (dirs.), Corpus Informatitzat del Català Antic (CICA), https://www.cica.cat, p. s.v. cinc
3. ^ a b Alcover, Antoni M.; Moll, Francesc de B. (1930–1962), Diccionari català-valencià-balear, 10 vols., Palma de Mallorca: Moll, p. s.v. cinc
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Coromines, Joan (1980–2001), Diccionari etimològic i complementari de la llengua catalana, 10 vols., Barcelona: Curial / La Caixa (online ed., Institut d'Estudis Catalans 2024), p. 2, 706
5. ^ a b c d e Bruguera, Jordi (1996), Diccionari etimològic, Barcelona: Enciclopèdia Catalana, p. 208
6. ^ a b c d Enciclopèdia Catalana, Gran diccionari de la llengua catalana (GDLC), Barcelona: Enciclopèdia Catalana; online edition, https://www.diccionari.cat, p. s.v. cinc
7. ^ a b Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 2, 84
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 6964
9. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
10. ^ a b Nou glossari general lul·lià (NGGL), Centre de Documentació Ramon Llull, Universitat de Barcelona, https://nggl.ub.edu, p. s.v. cinc
11. ^ a b Esteve, Joaquim; Bellvitges, Josep; Juglà, Antoni (1803–1805), Diccionario catalán-castellano-latino, 2 vols., Barcelona, p. s.v. cinc
12. ^ a b c d e Institut d'Estudis Catalans (2007), Diccionari de la llengua catalana, 2nd ed. (DIEC2), Barcelona: Edicions 62; online edition with later updates, https://dlc.iec.cat, p. s.v. cinc
13. ^ a b Fabra, Pompeu (1932), Diccionari general de la llengua catalana, Barcelona: Llibreria Catalònia, p. s.v. cinc
14. ^ Institut d'Estudis Catalans (1995), Diccionari de la llengua catalana, Barcelona: Edicions 62 / Enciclopèdia Catalana, p. s.v. cinc