April theme: 🦠

Introduction

*kʷetwer- is too long for a root. The feminine root suggests that there may have been an original root of just *kʷet-. There are also several reasons to believe that none of this is the original word for four:

• Hittite's word for "four", meyawes, is unrelated (Hittite is the oldest attested, and oldest split)
• The word for "eight" *oḱtṓw is a dual, suggesting a lost word for "four" *h₃eḱt-, attested only in Avestan ašti-: "width of four fingers", and likely in Proto-Kartvelian *oxto-: "four".

Note: I haven't written in the meanings for words for "four", "four-", or "forty" if they're in the respective section.

Teaser

four, tesseract, squadron, square, quarter, Tetris, quarantine

Full Text

• Proto-Indo-European *kʷetwóres

  • Albanian katër
  • Anatolian *gʷetʷóres

    • Hittite kutruwan witness a fourth party in a legal preceeding
    • Lycian 𐊗𐊁𐊗𐊁𐊕𐊆 teteri
  • Old Armenian չորք čʿorkʿ

    • Armenian չորս čʿors
  • Balto-Slavic *ketures

    • East Baltic

      • Lithuanian keturì
    • Slavic *četỳre

      • East Slavic

        • Russian четы́ре četýre
        • Ukrainian чоти́ри čotýry
      • South Slavic

        • Old Church Slavonic четꙑре četyre
        • Serbo-Croatian чѐтири čètiri
      • West Slavic

        • Polish cztery
  • Celtic *kʷetwares

    • Brythonic *pedwar

      • Welsh pedwar
    • Old Irish cethair

      • Irish ceathair
  • Pre-Germanic *petwṓr ^[1]

    • Germanic *fedwōr

      • East Germanic

        • Gothic 𐍆𐌹𐌳𐍅𐍉𐍂 fidwōr ^[2]
        • Crimean Gothic fyder ^[2]
      • North Germanic

        • Old Norse fjórir

          • Danish
          • Icelandic
      • West Germanic *feuwar

        • Old English fēower

          • English four
          • Scots fower
        • Frankish *fiuwar

          • Dutch vier
        • Old High German fior

          • German vier
          • Yiddish פֿיר fir
      • Germanic *fedwōr tigwiz four decades, forty

        • North Germanic

          • Old Norse fjórutigi

            • Danish fyrre(tyve)
            • Icelandic fjörutíu
        • West Germanic

          • Old English fēowertiġ

            • English forty
          • Frankish *fiurtig

            • Dutch veertig
          • Old High German fiorzug

            • German vierzig
            • Yiddish פֿערציק fertsik
  • Hellenic *kʷétwores

    • Classical Greek τέσσερες tésseres

      • Greek τέσσερις tésseris
      • English tessera-

        • English tesseract
  • Indo-Iranian *čatwā́ras

    • Indo-Aryan *ćatwā́ras

      • Sanskrit 𑀘𑀢𑀼𑀭𑁆 catur

        • Elu

          • Sinhala හතර hatara
        • Magadhi 𑀘𑀢𑁆𑀢𑀸𑀭𑁄 cattāro

          • Bengali চার car
        • Maharashtri 𑀘𑀢𑁆𑀢𑀸𑀭𑁄 cattāro

          • Marathi चार cār
        • Pali catur

          • Malay catur four, chess
        • Sauraseni 𑀘𑀢𑁆𑀢𑀸𑀭𑁄 cattāro

          • Madhya Sauraseni

            • Hindi चार cār
          • Pahari

            • Nepali चार cāra
            • Punjabi ਚਾਰ chār
          • Western Sauraseni

            • Romani śtar
        • Sanskrit 𑀘𑀢𑀼𑀭𑀗𑁆𑀕 cátur-aṅga four limbs, four parts, army, chess

          • Pali caturaṅga

            • Malay catur four, chess
          • Middle Persian čatrang

            • Arabic شطرنج šaṭranj chess

              • English shatranj
              • Persian شطرنج šatranj
              • Spanish ajedrez chess
              • Swahili sataranji chess
            • Georgian ჭადრაკი č̣adraḳi chess
            • Mongolian шатар šatar chess
          • Telugu చతురంగము caturaṅgamu
    • Iranian *čaθwā́rah

      • Avestan 𐬗𐬀𐬚𐬡𐬀𐬭 caθβar
      • Bactrian σοφαρο sofaro
      • Northern Iranian

        • Scythian

          • Ossetian цыппар cyppar
      • Pashto څلور shalór
      • Western Iranian

        • Northwestern Iranian

          • Balochi چار cár
          • Kurdish çar
        • Old Persian

          • Persian چهار čahâr
    • Nuristani *čatā́ra

      • Ashkun ćātā
      • Kamviri što
  • Italic *kʷettwōr

    • Oscan 𐌐𐌄𐌕𐌕𐌉𐌖𐌓 pettiur
    • Umbrian 𐌐𐌄𐌕𐌖𐌓 petur
    • Latin quattuor

      • Central Romance

        • Italian quattro
      • Eastern Romance

        • Romanian patru
      • Insular Romance

        • Sardinian bator
      • Western Romance

        • French quatre

          • Haitian Creole kat
        • Spanish cuatro
      • Latin quadrus square, four-cornered

        • Vulgar Latin *quadrellus

          • Central Romance

            • Italian quadrello quarrel, quarry tile
            • Dalmatian cadrial brick
          • Western Romance

            • Old French quarel

              • French carreau square, quarrel (tile, windowpane, crossbow bolt)
              • English quarrel
            • Spanish cuadrillo # (number sign)
        • Latin quadrāre I make square

          • Vulgar Latin *quadraria quarry "squaring-place"

            • Western Romance

              • Old French quarrière

                • French carrière quarry
                • English quarry
          • Vulgar Latin *exquadrare to make square lit. "to square out"

            • Vulgar Latin *exquadra

              • Central Romance

                • Italian squadra square (tool), team, squad, crew

                  • French escouade squad, sqaudron

                    • English squad
                  • Italian squadrone squadron augmentative

                    • English squadron
              • Western Romance

                • Old French esquarre

                  • French équerre square (tool)
                  • English square
        • Latin quārtus

          • Central Romance

            • Italian quarto fourth

              • English quarto
          • Western Romance

            • French quart fourth, quarter

              • English quart
          • Latin quartarium

            • French quartier

              • English quarter
          • Latin quaternī

            • Old French quaier

              • French cahier

                • English cahier
              • English quire
          • Vulgar Latin *quartus

            • Vulgar Latin *quartō

              • Vulgar Latin *exquartō

                • Western Romance

                  • French écarter to spread out, to separate, to diverge, to dismiss
  • Lusitanian petranioi ^[3]
  • Thracian κετρι ketri ^[4]
  • Tocharian *śǝtwer

    • Arshian śtwar
    • Kushean śtwer
  • Proto-Indo-European *kʷetwr̥-

    • Old Armenian քառ- kʿaṙ-

      • Armenian քառ- kʿaṙ-

        • Armenian քառուղի kʿaṙułi crossroads, intersection lit. "four-way"
    • Germanic *feþur-

      • East Germanic

        • Gothic 𐍆𐌹𐌳𐌿𐍂- fidur-

          • Gothic 𐍆𐌹𐌳𐌿𐍂𐍆𐌰𐌻𐌸𐍃 fidurfalþs four-fold
      • North Germanic

        • Old Norse fer-

          • Icelandic fer-

            • Icelandic ferfet square foot
        • West Germanic

          • Old English fiþer-
    • Hellenic

      • Classical Greek τετρα- tetra-

        • English tetra-

          • English tetrapod
        • Russian тетра- tetra-

          • Russian Те́трис Tɛ́tris Tetris

            • English Tetris
    • Italic

      • Latin quadr(i)-

        • English quadr(i)-

          • English quad
    • Phrygian διθυρ-
    • Proto-Indo-European *kʷetwr̥-(d)ḱomt forty

      • Old Armenian քառասուն kʿaṙasun
      • Balto-Slavic

        • Lithuanian keturiasdešimt
      • Hellenic

        • Classical Greek τεσσᾰρᾰ́κοντᾰ tessarákonta

          • Greek σαράντα saránta
      • Indo-Iranian *čatwārHćát

        • Indo-Aryan *ćatwārHśát

          • Sanskrit 𑀘𑀢𑁆𑀯𑀸𑀭𑀺𑀁𑀰𑀢𑁆 catvāriṃśát

            • Prakrit *catwaliśá

              • Elu

                • Sinhala හතළිහ hataḷiha
              • Magadhi

                • Bengali চল্লিশ côlliś
              • Sauraseni

                • Madhya Sauraseni

                  • Hindi चालीस cālīs
        • Iranian *čatwārHcát

          • Western Iranian

            • Northwestern Iranian

              • Kurdish çil
            • Old Persian

              • Persian چهل chehel
      • Italic

        • Latin quadrāgintā

          • Central Romance

            • Italian quaranta

              • Italian quarantina about forty, forty days
            • Venetian quaranta

              • Venetian quarantena about forty, forty days ^[5]

                • English quarantine
          • Latin quadrāgēsimus fortieth

            • Latin quadrāgēsima Lent, Christian forty day fast

              • Vulgar Latin *quarēsima

                • Central Romance

                  • Italian Quaresima Lent
                • Eastern Romance

                  • Aromanian preasinj Lent
                • Insular Romance

                  • Sardinian caresima Lent
                • Western Romance

                  • French carême Lent
                  • Spanish Cuaresma
                • Albanian kreshmë Lent
              • Old Irish Corgus

                • Irish Carghas Lent

Visual

Collected English words

four, forty, tessera-, tesseract, shatranj, quarrel, quarry, squad, squadron, square, quarto, quart, quarter, cahier, quire, tetra-, tetrapod, Tetris, quadr(i)-, quad, quarantine

Footnotes

1. ^

   In Germanic *fedwōr (PreG *petwṓr) the irregular sound change from *kʷ- was probably influenced by the *p- in *pénkʷe: "five".

2. ^

   Note that both of the East Germanic forms preserve the medial *d, though it has been dropped in all North and West Germanic languages.

3. ^

   None

   Lusitanian petranioi known from rock inscription from Lamas de Moledo (Búa, C. 1999. “Hipótesis para algunas inscripciones rupestres del Occidente peninsular').

4. ^

   Compare Thracian κετρι ketri to the Lithuanian keturì. Connection to Balto-Slavic is one of the strong contenders for classification of Thracian.

5. ^

   An isolation period was imposed by the Venetian Senate on ships arriving in Ragusa during the spread of the Black Death. First recorded in 1377, the waiting period was thirty days (trentena). In 1448, during the Second Plague Pandemic, the waiting period was increased to forty days: the quarantine.