"seventeen" in seven languages
Meaningseventeen
Spanish
diecisiete
/djeθiˈsjete/
inherited
French
dix-sept
/disɛt/
inherited
Italian
diciassette
/ditʃasˈsɛtte/
inherited
The doubled s comes from a fused 'and' between dieci and sette.
Portuguese
dezessete
/dezeˈsɛtʃi/
inherited
Romanian
șaptesprezece
/ˈʃaptesprezetʃe/
other source · Romanian compound șapte spre zece 'seven upon ten'
Catalan
disset
/diˈsɛt/
inherited
English
seventeen
/sɛvənˈtin/
Indo-European kin · PIE *septḿ̥ + *déḱm̥
English → ItalianseventeendiciassetteDistant cognateRelated only through Indo-European, thousands of years back (night ~ noche).What English and Italian share
The Latin ancestor
DECEM + SEPTEM‘ten + seven (a Romance compound; Latin said SEPTENDECIM)’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
From 17 on, all three sisters count 'ten-seven', 'ten-eight' — tens first, unlike English seven-teen.
Learn it
More in Numbers
- eighteendieciochodix-huitdiciottodezoitooptsprezecedivuit
- nineteendiecinuevedix-neufdiciannovedezenovenouăsprezecedinou
- twentyveintevingtventivintedouăzecivint
- thirtytreintatrentetrentatrintatreizecitrenta
- fortycuarentaquarantequarantaquarentapatruzeciquaranta
- fiftycincuentacinquantecinquantacinquentacincizecicinquanta