six

Signal flag for the digit 6

• Six, SIX

Borrowed from English six.

• IPA^(key): [ˈsɪks]^[1]

six

1. (international standards) NATO & ICAO radiotelephony clear code (spelling-alphabet name) for the digit 6.

   Synonym: soxisix (ITU/IMO)

ICAO/NATO radiotelephonic clear codes

code	Alfa	Bravo	Charlie	Delta	Echo	Foxtrot	Golf	Hotel	India	Juliett	Kilo	Lima	Mike
	November	Oscar	Papa	Quebec	Romeo	Sierra	Tango	Uniform	Victor	Whiskey	Xray	Yankee	Zulu
	zero	one	two	three (tree)	four (fower)	five (fife)	six	seven	eight	nine (niner)	hundred	thousand	decimal

ICAO/NATO vs ITU/IMO radiotelephonic clear codes for digits

ICAO/NATO	zero	one	two	three (tree)	four (fower)	five (fife)	six	seven	eight	nine (niner)
ITU/IMO	nadazero	unaone	bissotwo	terrathree	kartefour	pantafive	soxisix	setteseven	oktoeight	novenine

English numbers ^(edit)

	60
←  5	6	7  →
Cardinal: six     Ordinal: sixth     Latinate ordinal: senary     Adverbial: six times     Multiplier: sixfold     Latinate multiplier: sextuple     Distributive: sextuply     Germanic collective: half-dozen, sixsome     Collective of n parts: sextuplet, hextuplet     Greek or Latinate collective: hexad     Greek collective prefix: hexa-     Latinate collective prefix: sexa-     Fractional: sixth     Elemental: sextuplet, hextuplet     Greek prefix: hexa-     Number of musicians: sextet     Number of years: sexennium

From Middle English six, from Old English six, from Proto-West Germanic *sehs, from Proto-Germanic *sehs, from Proto-Indo-European *swéḱs. Compare West Frisian seis, Dutch zes, Low German söss, sess, German sechs, Norwegian and Danish seks, also Latin sex, Ancient Greek ἕξ (héx), Sanskrit षष् (ṣaṣ). Doublet of sice. Toilet sense predates military usage.^[1]

• IPA^(key): /sɪks/, enPR: sĭks

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪks
• Homophones: sicks, sics

six

1. A numerical value equal to 6; the number following five and preceding seven. This many dots: (••••••).

• sixth

• Sranan Tongo: siksi
  • Aukan: siksi
    • → Wayana: siksi
• Saramaccan: sigisi

six (plural sixes)

1. A group or set with six elements.
2. The digit or figure 6.
3. Six o'clock.
   • 1838, Francis Bisset Hawkins, chapter XIII, in Germany: The Spirit of Her History, Literature, Social Condition and National Economy, Illustrated by Reference to Her Physical, Moral and Political Statistics, etc.‎^[2], →OCLC, page 228:

     In Austria the prisoners rise at five, [...]. There are morning prayers at a quarter to six, after which the prisoners are conducted to work.

4. (military slang, by ellipsis of six o'clock) Rear, behind (rear side of something).

   cover my six

   • 2009, Bill Yenne, Aces High: The Heroic Saga of the Two Top-scoring American Aces of World War II, Penguin, →ISBN, page 98:

     Just as having an enemy on your “six” is the hardest situation to escape, being on an enemy at six o'clock is the surest kill. Fighter pilots are always practicing maneuvers to get out from having another aircraft on their six.

5. (cricket) An event whereby a batsman hits a ball which does not bounce before passing over a boundary in the air, resulting in an award of 6 runs for the batting team.
   • 2019 July 14, Stephan Shemilt, “England win Cricket World Cup: Ben Stokes stars in dramatic finale against New Zealand”, in BBC Sport‎^[3], London:

     England required 15 from the last over of the regular match. Ben Stokes hit a six and benefited when a throw from the deep hit him and went for four overthrows.

6. (American football) A touchdown.
7. (North Wales) A bathroom or toilet.
8. (obsolete) Small beer sold at six shillings per barrel.

• 6 (Arabic numeral)
• 陸／陆, 六 (Chinese numerals)
• Ⅵ or VI (Roman numeral)
• στ΄ or ϛ΄ (Greek numeral)
• Table of cardinal numbers 0 to 9 in various languages

Playing cards in English · playing cards (layout · text)
ace	deuce, two	three	four	five	six	seven
eight	nine	ten	jack, knave	queen	king	joker

• Xis, ISX, XIs, xis

French numbers ^(edit)

	60
←  5	6	7  →
Cardinal: six     Ordinal: sixième     Ordinal abbreviation: 6e, (now nonstandard) 6ème     Multiplier: sextuple
French Wikipedia article on 6

Inherited from Middle French six, from Old French sis, six, from Latin sex, from Proto-Indo-European *swéḱs.

The numbers six and dix (“ten”), as well as the pronoun tous (“all”), are remnants of the Old and Middle French pronunciation system where final -s or -x was silent before consonants, pronounced /z/ before vowels, and /s/ in pausa. The only change is that the pausal pronunciation is now invariably used when these words do not precede their referent.

• IPA^(key): /sis/ (independent)

  • Audio (France):

    (file)

  • Audio (Quebec); [sɪs]:

    (file)

• IPA^(key): /si.z‿/ (before modified word in a vowel or mute h)
• IPA^(key): /si/ (before modified word in a consonant or aspirate h)
• Rhymes: -is

six (invariable)

1. six

• sixain
• six cents
• Six Nations
• six-huit
• à la six-quatre-deux
• sixte
• sizain
• sixième

• Haitian Creole: sis
• Louisiana Creole: sis
• Mauritian Creole: sis

Playing cards in French · cartes à jouer (layout · text)
as	deux	trois	quatre	cinq	six	sept
huit	neuf	dix	valet	dame	roi	joker

• “six”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

six

1. four

Middle English numbers ^(edit)

	60
←  5	6	7  →
Cardinal: six     Ordinal: sixte

• cex, sex
• zix (Kent)

From Old English six, from Proto-West Germanic *sehs, from Proto-Germanic *sehs, from Proto-Indo-European *swéḱs.

• IPA^(key): /siks/

six

1. six

• sixte
• sixtene
• sixty

• English: six
  • Sranan Tongo: siksi
    • Aukan: siksi
      • → Wayana: siksi
  • Saramaccan: sigisi
• Scots: sax, sex, six
• Yola: zeese

• “six, num.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

From Old French sis, six.

• IPA^(key): (in isolation) /sis/, (before a vowel) /siz/, (before a consonant) /si/

six (invariable)

1. six

• French: six
  • Haitian Creole: sis
  • Louisiana Creole: sis
  • Mauritian Creole: sis
• Norman: six

Norman cardinal numbers

<  5	6	7  >
Cardinal : six

Norman cardinal numbers

<  5	6	7  >
Cardinal : six

From Latin sex, from Proto-Indo-European *swéḱs.

• Audio (Jersey):

  (file)

six

1. (Jersey, Guernsey) six
   • 1903, Edgar MacCulloch, “Proverbs, Weather Sayings, etc.”, in Guernsey Folk Lore‎^[4], page 533:

     Six s'maïnes avant Noué, et six s'maïnes après, les nits sont les pûs longues, et le jours les pûs freds.

     Six weeks before Christmas and six weeks after, the nights are the longest and the days the coldest.

Old English numbers ^(edit)

	60
←  5	6	7  →
Cardinal: six     Ordinal: sixta     Age: sixwintre     Multiplier: sixfeald

• sex — Anglian
• siex, syx, seox

Inherited from Proto-West Germanic *sehs, from Proto-Germanic *sehs, from Proto-Indo-European *swéḱs.

• IPA^(key): /siks/

six

1. six
   • late 9th century, translation of Bede's Ecclesiastical History

     Đās cāseres rīċes ðȳ tēoðan ġēare Gregorius sē hālga wer, sē was on lāre ⁊ on dǣde sē hēhsta, feng tō bisċophāde þǣre Rōmanisċan ċyriċan ⁊ þǣs apostolīċan seðles: ⁊ þæt heold ⁊ reahte þrēottēno ġēr ⁊ syx mōnað ⁊ tȳn dagas.

     In the tenth year of this emperor's reign, the holy man Gregorius, who was the greatest in learning and in deeds, rose to the bishophood of the Roman church and the apostolic see; and he held and directed that office for thirteen years, six months, and ten days.

• sixhynde
• sixta

• Middle English: six, cex, sex, zix (Kent)
  • English: six
    • Sranan Tongo: siksi
      • Aukan: siksi
        • → Wayana: siksi
    • Saramaccan: sigisi
  • Scots: sax, sex, six
  • Yola: zeese

six

1. Alternative form of sax

• “six, num., n.”, in The Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries, 2004–present, →OCLC, retrieved 23 May 2024, reproduced from William A[lexander] Craigie, A[dam] J[ack] Aitken [et al.], editors, A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue: […], Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, 1931–2002, →OCLC.
• “six, num. adj., n.”, in The Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries, 2004–present, →OCLC, retrieved 23 May 2024, reproduced from W[illiam] Grant and D[avid] D. Murison, editors, The Scottish National Dictionary, Edinburgh: Scottish National Dictionary Association, 1931–1976, →OCLC.