"sixty" in seven languages
Meaningsixty
Spanish
sesenta
/seˈsenta/
inherited
French
soixante
/swasɑ̃t/
inherited
Italian
sessanta
/sesˈsanta/
inherited
Portuguese
sessenta
/seˈsẽtɐ/
inherited
Romanian
șaizeci
/ʃajˈzetʃʲ/
other source · Romanian compound șase zeci 'six tens', contracted
Catalan
seixanta
/səˈʃantə/
inherited
English
sixty
/ˈsɪksti/
Indo-European kin · PIE *swéḱs + *déḱm̥ 'ten'
English → ItaliansixtysessantaDistant cognateRelated only through Indo-European, thousands of years back (night ~ noche). But English has relatives: sexagenarian, sexagesimal.What English and Italian share
The Latin ancestor
SEXĀGINTĀ‘sixty’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
Italian assimilated X to ss. In France, soixante is the last 'normal' ten: after it comes soixante-dix.
English relatives: sexagenarian, sexagesimal