Etymology

quincentennial

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Today it means: Of or related to a 500th anniversary. Full definition →

English centennial ← Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.? ← Late Latin centennium
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*pénkʷe
  2. Proto-Italic*kʷenkʷe
  3. Latinquīnque
  4. Englishquin-
  5. Latincentennis
  6. Late Latincentennium
  7. Proto-Indo-European*h₂el-
  8. Proto-Indo-European*h₂élisder.?
  9. Englishcentennial
  10. English todayquincentennial

From quin- (prefix meaning ‘five’) + centennial (“100-year; 100-year anniversary”). Compare Latin quingenti (“500”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.