Etymologically
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six

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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
  • 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)