"eleven" in seven languages

Meaningeleven

Spanish

once

/ˈonθe/

inherited

French

onze

/ɔ̃z/

inherited

No elision before it: le onze, de onze.

Italian

undici

/ˈunditʃi/

inherited

Portuguese

onze

/ˈõzi/

inherited

Romanian

unsprezece

/ˈunsprezetʃe/

other source · Romanian compound un spre zece 'one upon ten'

Romanian dropped the Latin '-teens' and counts 'one upon ten', a pattern shared with the Slavic neighbours; colloquially unșpe.

Catalan

onze

/ˈɔnzə/

inherited

English

eleven

/ɪˈlɛvən/

native English · Old English endleofan 'one left (over ten)'

The one is kindred to ŪNUS, but the -leven means 'left over', not ten.

English → ItalianelevenundiciNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh.What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

ŪNDECIM‘eleven ('one-ten')’

All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.

Latin built 11–17 as 'one-ten', 'two-ten'… Italian keeps the -dici ending visible; Spanish and French wore it down to -ce / -ze.