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START / NODE 239Present-Day Englishmodern spelling; inherited word recorded before the 12th century
ten
The inherited English cardinal number, carried through Old English and Germanic from the Indo-European numeral also reflected in Latin decem.
“Ten and decimal are not related because modern English borrowed one from the other. They are cousins: inherited Germanic ten and learned Latin decimal independently continue the same reconstructed numeral.”OPEN COMPLETE WORD DOSSIER ↗
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01
PARENT ROUTES1 REVIEWED RELATIONSHIP
Present-Day Englishten
the cardinal number one greater than nine
↑GO DEEPER
Middle English · Middle English, c. 1150–1500tenten
- SOUND CHANGE
- Modern English ten continues the Middle English spelling with ordinary phonological stabilization.
- SEMANTIC CHANGE
- The cardinal value remains ten while later noun, rating, money, and idiomatic senses branch from it.
- SCHOLAR
- Merriam-Webster Editors
- CONFIDENCE
- established — The English continuity and historical forms are directly reported.
- CHRONOLOGY
- Middle English to modern English.
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