# five

> English word · Numeral · IPA /faɪv/ · frequency rank #336

## Definitions
1. A numerical value equal to 5; the number following four and preceding six.
2. Describing a group or set with five elements.

## Etymology
PIE word
 *pénkʷe
From Middle English fyf, fyve, from Old English fīf (“five”), from Proto-West Germanic *fimf (“five”), from Proto-Germanic *fimf (“five”), from Proto-Indo-European *pénkʷe.
See also West Frisian fiif, Dutch vijf, German fünf, Norwegian and Swedish fem, Icelandic fimm; also Welsh pump, Latin quinque, Tocharian A päñ, Tocharian B piś, Lithuanian penki, Russian пять (pjatʹ), Albanian pesë, pêsë, Ancient Greek πέντε (pénte), Armenian հինգ (hing), Persian پنج (panj), Sanskrit पञ्च (páñca). Doublet of cinque, fin (“five currency units”), finnuf, pimp (“five”), ponzu, punch (“beverage”), and sengi (“currency”); related to Pompeii.
The nasal *m in Proto-Germanic *fimf was lost through a sound change known as the Ingvaeonic nasal spirant law.

## Easily confused with
- **fix** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/five-vs-fix)
- **foe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/five-vs-foe)
- **FTE** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/five-vs-fte)
- **free** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/five-vs-free)
- **flee** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/five-vs-flee)
- **fuse** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/five-vs-fuse)
- **fizz** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/five-vs-fizz)
- **flue** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/five-vs-flue)
- **FTSE** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/five-vs-ftse)
- **foie** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/five-vs-foie)
- **fume** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/five-vs-fume)
- **fixed** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/five-vs-fixed)
- **fixes** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/five-vs-fixes)
- **fives** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/five-vs-fives)
- **fixer** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/five-vs-fixer)
- **fiver** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/five-vs-fiver)
- **fi** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fi-vs-five)
- **Fe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fe-vs-five)
- **fit** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fit-vs-five)
- **fee** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fee-vs-five)

## Common misspellings (5)
`ffive`, `fiev`, `fivve`, `fvie`, `ifve`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/five