*SET-U

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CLAIM / COUNTERCLAIM / LIMITRECORD 79

DISPUTE
RECORD.

One scholarly question. Every attached source. The present editorial state, without pretending the last word has been written.

resolvedestablished

Is English ten borrowed from Latin decem?

No. English ten is inherited through Old English and Germanic, while Latin decem is a cognate from the same Indo-European numeral.

WORD UNDER REVIEWDISPUTE 79

ten

/tɛn/ · noun, adjective, pronoun

The inherited English cardinal number, carried through Old English and Germanic from the Indo-European numeral also reflected in Latin decem.

01

DIRECT CLAIM EVIDENCE

2 SOURCES WITH A STANCE

A citation is not a vote. Each record says whether the work supports, challenges, contradicts, or contextualizes the position—and identifies the exact locus used.

SOURCE 01supportsscholarly reference

Indo-European Root dekm̥

Shows English ten-family and Latin decem-family forms as cognates under one reconstruction.

Root dekm̥, Germanic and Latin descendants
AUTHOR / EDITOR
Calvert Watkins and American Heritage Dictionary Editors
YEAR
2022
PUBLISHER
HarperCollins
AUDIT SOURCE USE ↗OPEN ORIGINAL ↗
02 / EDITORIAL STATE

THE CURRENT RECORD IS RESOLVED.

CONFIDENCE
established
STATUS
resolved
LEGACY SOURCE SUMMARY
Merriam-Webster gives the Germanic inheritance path; American Heritage places both Germanic and Latin descendants under *dekm̥.
RESOLUTION NOTE

The global graph joins them at the reconstructed root without making Latin the parent of English ten.

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