the.com/ten
The number humans picked because we happen to have ten fingers, not because math cares.
means The number after nine, equal to the sum of two fives — the base of the counting system most of the world settled on.
from Traces back through Old English 'tien' to a very old Germanic root, and further back to the Proto-Indo-European '*dekm', the same ancient root that gave Latin 'decem' (think 'decade' and 'December') and Greek 'deka' (think 'decimal' and 'decathlon'). The widespread cousins across so many languages are a quiet fossil record of counting on fingers.
- base origin
- Decimal system exists purely because of finger-counting anatomy
- perfect score
- Used worldwide as shorthand for flawless, from gymnastics to dates
- roman numeral
- X began as two crossed strokes for tally marks
- other bases
- Computers prefer base two, ten is not universal