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Indo-European Lexicon

PIE Etymon and IE Reflexes

Below we display: a Proto-Indo-European (PIE) etymon adapted from Pokorny, with our own English gloss; our Semantic Field assignment(s) for the etymon, linked to information about the field(s); an optional Comment; and Reflexes (derived words) in various Indo-European languages, organized by family/group in west-to-east order where Germanic is split into West/North/East families and English, our language of primary emphasis, is artificially separated from West Germanic. IE Reflexes appear most often as single words with any optional letter(s) enclosed in parentheses; but alternative full spellings are separated by '/' and "principal parts" appear in a standard order (e.g. masculine, feminine, and neuter forms) separated by commas.

Reflexes are annotated with: Part-of-Speech and/or other Grammatical feature(s); a short Gloss which, especially for modern English reflexes, may be confined to the oldest sense; and some Source citation(s) with 'LRC' always understood as editor. Keys to PoS/Gram feature abbreviations and Source codes appear below the reflexes; at the end are links to the previous/next etyma [in Pokorny's alphabetic order] that have reflexes.

Fans of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings may appreciate the source & meaning tips that pop up when the mouse pointer hovers over a non-obvious word or name that he coined from Indo-European (usually Old English or Old Norse) stock. But only reflexes of PIE etyma can be included, and these tend to concentrate in the vocabulary of Rohan and the Shire.

All reflex pages are currently under active construction; as time goes on, corrections may be made and/or more etyma & reflexes may be added.

Note: this page is for systems/browsers lacking Unicode® support, or having less than full Unicode 2.0 font support. Versions of this page rendered in alternate character sets are available via links (see Unicode 3 and Unicode 2) in the left margin.

Pokorny Etymon: kuetuer-, kuetuor-, kuetur- (masc.), kuetes(o)r- (fem.)   'four, fourth'

Semantic Field: Number

 

Indo-European Reflexes:

Family/Language Reflex(es) PoS/Gram. Gloss Source(s)
Celtic  
Old Irish: cethair nbr.card four (4) EIE
Irish: ceathair nbr.card four (4) LRC
Scots Gaelic: ceithir nbr.card four (4) LRC
Manx: kiare nbr.card four (4) LRC
Old Welsh: petguar nbr.card four (4) EIE
Welsh: pedwar nbr.card four (4) ASD
English  
Old English: feorðung n.fem farthing, quarter (1/4) ASD
  feower(e) nbr.card four (4) W7/ASD
  feowertig nbr.card forty (40) GED
  feowertyne nbr.card fourteen (14) GED
  feo(we)rða nbr.ord fourth (4th) W7/ASD
Middle English: diatessaron n diatessaron W7
  ferthing n farthing W7
  four nbr.card four (4) W7
  fourty nbr.card forty (40) W7
  quadrant n quadrant W7
  quadrate adj quadrate W7
  quadri- pfx quadri- W7
  quair n four paper sheets folded together once W7
  quarey n quarry W7
  quarrel n quarrel W7
  quarrere n quarry W7
  quart n quart W7
  quarter n quarter W7
  quarteyne adj quartan W7
  quaternyoun n quaternion W7
  square n square W7
  tetra- pfx tetra- W7
English: cadre n frame, framework AHD/W7
  cahier n report/memorial concerning parliamentary policy AHD/W7
  carillon n fixed bells rung by hammers controlled by keyboard AHD/W7
  carnet n official pass/permit, customs document AHD
  casern n military barracks/garrison AHD
  cater-cornered adj/adv diagonal; set diagonally AHD/CDC
  czardas n intricate Hungarian dance AHD
  diatessaron n harmony of four Gospels edited/arranged into single connected narrative AHD/W7
  Eastfarthing prop.n Shire quadrant in Tolkien: The Lord of the Rings LRC
  escadrille n unit of European air force containing 6 airplanes AHD/W7
  Farthing prop.n Shire quadrant in Tolkien: The Lord of the Rings LRC
  farthing n British monetary unit (1/4 penny) AHD/W7
  forty nbr.card 40 AHD/W7
  four nbr.card 4 AHD/W7
  fourfold adj quadruple, 4 times the number/quantity LRC
  fourth nbr.ord 4th AHD/W7
  Northfarthing prop.n Shire quadrant in Tolkien: The Lord of the Rings LRC
  quadrant n quarter AHD/W7
  quadrate adj being (approximately) square AHD/W7
  quadri- pfx four AHD/W7
  quadricentenary n/adj fourth centennial; re: 400 years AHD
  quadrille n 4-handed card game AHD/W7
  quadroon n person of 1/4 black African ancestry AHD/W7
  quadrumanous adj four-handed, having four feet with with opposable first digits AHD/CDC
  quarantine n period of 40 days AHD/W7
  quarrel n square-headed bolt/arrow esp. for crossbow AHD/W7
  quarry n open excavation for obtaining stone/slate for construction AHD/W7
  quart n unit of volume (1/4 of a gallon) AHD/W7
  quartan adj occurring every 4th day AHD/W7
  quarter n 1/4 part AHD/W7
  quarter vb to divide into four (nearly) equal parts W7
  quarters n.pl lodgings, living accommodations W9
  quartet n group of four W7
  quarto n 1/4 of full sheet of paper AHD/W7
  quaternary adj quadruple, re: 4 units/members AHD/W7
  quaternion n tetrad, 4 parts/things/persons AHD/W7
  quatrain n 4 lines of verse AHD/W7
  quire n 24/25 sheets of paper in same size/quality: 1/20 ream AHD/W7
  Southfarthing prop.n Shire quadrant in Tolkien: The Lord of the Rings LRC
  squad n small organized military group AHD/W7
  square n tool with 2 straight edges at 90 degree angle AHD/W7
  tessera n small wood/bone/ivory tablet used as ticket, voucher, etc. AHD/W7
  tetra- pfx four AHD/W7
  tetrad n group/arrangement of four AHD/W7
  tetrahedron n polyhedron of four faces AHD/W7
  trocar n pointed metal instrument fitted with cannula AHD/W7
  Westfarthing prop.n Shire quadrant in Tolkien: The Lord of the Rings LRC
W-Germanic  
Old Frisian: fiortig nbr.card forty (40) GED
  fio(we)r/fiuwer nbr.card four (4) ASD
  fiuwertich nbr.card forty (40) GED
  fiuwertine nbr.card fourteen (14) GED
Frisian: fjouver nbr.card four (4) ASD
Dutch: kazerne n quarters, barracks TLL
  vier nbr.card four (4) ASD
Old Saxon: fi(u)war/fior nbr.card four (4) ASD
Low German: veer nbr.card four (4) ASD
Old High German: fior nbr.card four (4) W7
  fiordo nbr.ord fourth (4th) EIE
  fiorzehan nbr.card fourteen (14) GED
  fiorzug nbr.card forty (40) GED
Middle High German: vier nbr.card four (4) ASD
  vierdunc n 1/4 part W7
German: Kaserne n quarters, barracks TLL
  vier nbr.card four (4) ASD
  vierzehn nbr.card fourteen (14) LRC
  vierzig nbr.card forty (40) LRC
N-Germanic  
Old Norse: fjorði nbr.ord fourth (4th) EIE
  fjórðung n 1/4 part of land area LRC
  fjorir nbr.card four (4) EIE
Old Icelandic: fjorir-tiger nbr.card forty (40) GED
  fjortan nbr.card fourteen (14) GED
Icelandic: fjorir nbr.card four (4) ASD
Danish: fire nbr.card four (4) ASD
  kasern n quarters, barracks TLL
Swedish: fyre nbr.card four (4) ASD
  kasern n quarters, barracks TLL
E-Germanic  
Gothic: fidwor nbr.card four (4) ASD
  fidwor-taihun nbr.card fourteen (14) GED
  *fidwor-tigjus nbr.card forty (40) GED
Crimean Gothic: *fiirdeiþien/furdei-thien nbr.card forty (40), lit. fourth ten CGo/GED
  fyder nbr.card four (4) EIE
Italic  
Oscan: petora nbr.card four (4) EIE
Latin: quadra- pfx four (4) W7
  quadraginta nbr forty (40) W7
  quadrans, quadrantis n.masc quadrant W7
  quadro, quadrare, quadravi, quadratus vb to make square W7
  quadrum n.neut square W7
  quartanus adj of the fourth W7
  quartarius adj of a fourth W7
  quartus adj/nbr.ord fourth (4th) W7
  quaternarius adj in fourth position W7
  quaterni adv four each, set of four W7
  quattuor nbr.card four (4) LRC
  tessera n.fem tessera, rectangular tablet W7
  tetra- pfx four W7
Vulgar Latin: exquadra n.fem square W7
  exquadro, exquadrare vb to make square W7
  exquadro, exquadrare vb to square W7
  quadernum n.neut booklet W7
  quadrellum n.neut square W7
Late Latin: quaternio, quaternionis n.masc set of four W7
Old Spanish: escuadra n.fem squad W7
Spanish: cuarterón adj a fourth W7
  cuarto adj fourth W7
  escuadra n.fem squad, squadron W7
  escuadrilla n.fem.dim squadron W7
Old French: quarantaine n.fem period of forty days W7
  quarante nbr forty W7
  quare n.fem squared stone W7
  quarregnon n.masc carillon W7
  quarrel n.masc square-headed arrow, building stone W7
  quart, quarte adj fourth W7
  quartaine n.fem quartan fever W7
  quartier n.masc a fourth, quarter W7
Middle French: esquade n.fem squad W7
  esquarre n.fem square W7
  quaer/caier n.masc four sheets of paper folded once W7
  quarantaine n.fem period of fourty days W7
  quarrel n.masc square of glass W7
  quarrière n.fem quarry W7
  quarte n.fem quart, fourth musical note W7
  quatrain n.masc quatrain W7
  quatre nbr four W7
French: cadre n.masc frame W7
  cahier n.masc book, school-book W7
  carillon n.masc chime W7/R1
  carrer vb to make square W7
  caserne n quarters, barracks LRC
  escadrille n.fem squadron W7
  quadrille n.masc type of dance W7
  quatrain n.masc quatrain W7
  trocart n.masc trocar W7
Old Italian: squadra n.masc square W7
  squatrare vb to quarter LRC
Italian: quadro n.masc picture, painting W7
  quarantina n.fem set of forty W7
  squartare vb to quarter LRC
Baltic  
Old Prussian: kettwirts nbr.ord fourth (4th) EIE
Lithuanian: keturì nbr.card four (4) EIE
  ketverì n quartet EIE
  ketviras nbr.ord fourth (4th) EIE
Latvian: ceturtais nbr.ord fourth (4th) EIE
  cetri nbr.card four (4) EIE
Slavic  
Serbo-Croatian: cardak n watchtower AHD
Old Church Slavonic: cetveri n quartet EIE
  cetvritu nbr.ord fourth (4th) EIE
  cetyre nbr.card four (4) EIE
Russian: cetvërtyj nbr.ord fourth (4th) EIE
Albanian  
Albanian: katër nbr.card four (4) EIE
  katërt nbr.card fourth (4th) EIE
Hellenic  
Mycenaean: the-to-ro-pi nbr.card four (4) LRC
Doric: tétores nbr.card four (4) EIE
Boeotian: péttares nbr.card four (4) EIE
Lesbian: pésures nbr.card four (4) EIE
Ionic: tétartos nbr.ord fourth LRC
Homeric Greek: téssares nbr.card four (4) EIE
Attic: tétartos nbr.ord fourth LRC
  téttares nbr.card four (4) EIE
Greek: tesserákonta nbr.card forty (40) GED
  tetra- pfx four W7
  tetras, tetrados n.fem group of four W7
  tétratos nbr.ord fourth (4th) EIE
Armenian  
Armenian: c'ork' nbr.card four (4) EIE
Iranian  
Avestan: cathru- nbr.ord fourth (4th) EIE
  cathwaro nbr.card four (4) EIE
Indic  
Sanskrit: caturthá- nbr.ord fourth (4th) EIE
  catvara/catúra- nbr.card four (4) EIE
Tocharian  
Tocharian B: starte nbr.ord fourth (4th) EIE
  stwer nbr.card four (4) EIE
Tocharian A: stärt nbr.ord fourth (4th) EIE
  stwar nbr.card four (4) EIE

 

Key to Part-of-Speech/Grammatical feature abbreviations:

Abbrev. Meaning
adj=adjective
adv=adverb(ial)
card=cardinal
dim=diminutive
fem=feminine (gender)
masc=masculine (gender)
n=noun
nbr=number
neut=neuter (gender)
ord=ordinal
pfx=prefix
pl=plural (number)
prop=proper
vb=verb

Key to information Source codes (always with 'LRC' as editor):

Code Citation
AHD=Calvert Watkins: The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo-European Roots, 2nd ed. (2000)
ASD=Joseph Bosworth and T. Northcote Toller: An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary (1898)
CDC=W.D. Whitney and B.E. Smith: The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia (1889-1911)
CGo=MacDonald Stearns, Jr: Crimean Gothic (1978)
EIE=J.P. Mallory and D.Q. Adams, eds. Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture (1997)
GED=Winfred P. Lehmann: A Gothic Etymological Dictionary (1986)
LRC=Linguistics Research Center, University of Texas, Austin
R1=Josette Rey-Debove and Alain Rey, eds. Le Nouveau Petit Robert (1993)
TLL=Frederick Bodmer: The Loom of Language (1944)
W7=Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary (1963)
W9=Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary (1983)

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