six

Pronunciation

• IPA: /sɪks/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English six, inherited from Old English siex (also six, earlier sex),^[2][3][4] from Proto-Germanic *seks,^[2][5] from Proto-Indo-European *s(w)eks (“six”).^[2][6][3] Its relatives include German sechs, Dutch zes, Latin sex, Ancient Greek ἕξ (héx) and Old Irish sé.^[3][2][7] From the Latin and Greek come sextet and hexagon.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old English sex, 835, and siex, six before 899, in Alfred's translation of Orosius.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Sixteen and sixty go back to Old English.^[3][5] Sixth replaced the older sixte in 1526.^[3] A playing card with six pips has been a six since the 1590s.^[2][9] At sixes and sevens comes from dicing.^[8] Chaucer has to set on six and seven in Troilus and Criseyde, probably altered from French cinque and sice, the highest numbers on a die.^[8] In cricket a hit over the boundary scores six, the image behind hit for six (early 20th century).^[8] Six-footer is from 1828, six-shooter from 1842, and six-pack from 1952, of the abdominal muscles by 1995.^[2]

Timeline

• 835 – Old English sex.^[3]
• before 899 – siex, six (Alfred).^[3]
• 1526 – sixth.^[3]
• 1590s – a playing card.^[2]
• 1842 – six-shooter.^[2]
• early 20th century – hit for six.^[8]
• 1952 – six-pack.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The cardinal number one more than five.
2. A set or group of six.
3. A playing card or die face with six pips.
4. (cricket) A hit over the boundary, scoring six runs.

Determiner

1. Amounting to six.

Word family

• deep six

Related words

• sixth
• sixteen
• sixty
• sextet
• hexagon

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
7. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
8. ^ a b c d e Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)