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Origin and history of tooth

tooth(n.)

Middle English toth "human or animal tooth," from Old English toð (plural teð), from Proto-Germanic *tanthu- (source also of Old Saxon, Danish, Swedish, Dutch tand, Old Norse tönn, Old Frisian toth, Old High German zand, German Zahn, Gothic tunþus), from PIE root *dent- "tooth."

Plural teeth is an instance of i-mutation. The loss of -n- before spirants is regular in Old English, Old Frisian, and Old Saxon: compare goose (n.), five, mouth (n.). Also thought, from stem of think; couth from the stem of can (v.1); us from *uns.

As "appetite, bodily desire" from late 14c. (as in colt's tooth, sweet tooth, dry tooth "thirst," toothsome, and compare figurative use of palate). Application to tooth-like parts (of saws, combs, etc.) is from late 14c.

Tooth and nail "with biting and scratching, with nails and teeth," hence "viciously, furiously" is from early 14c. (as nayles and teþ). To be armed to the teeth is from c. 1300. The tooth-fairy is attested from 1964.

tooth(v.)

early 15c., "to teethe," a sense now obsolete, from tooth (n.). From late 15c. as "furnish with teeth," 1570s as "bite, taste," 1670s as "indent," 1703 as ":lock into one another," Related: Toothed; toothing.

also from early 15c.

Entries linking to tooth

couth(adj.)

Middle English couth "known, well-known; usual, customary," from Old English cuðe "known," past participle of cunnan "to know," less commonly "to have power to, to be able" (see can (v.1)).

As a past participle it died out 16c. with the emergence of could, but the old word was reborn 1896, with a new sense of "cultured, refined," as a back-formation from uncouth (q.v.). The Old English word forms the first element in the masc. proper name Cuthbert, which literally means "famous-bright."

five(num.)

"1 more than four; the number which is one more than four; a symbol representing this number;" Old English fif "five," from Proto-Germanic *fimfe (source also of Old Frisian fif, Old Saxon fif, Dutch vijf, Old Norse fimm, Old High German funf, Gothic fimf), from PIE root *penkwe- "five." The lost *-m- is a regular development (compare tooth).

Five-and-ten (Cent Store) is from 1880, American English, with reference to prices of goods for sale. Five-star (adj.) is from 1913 of hotels, 1945 of generals. Slang five-finger discount "theft" is from 1966. The original five-year plan was 1928 in the U.S.S.R. Five o'clock shadow attested by 1937.

[under picture of a pretty girl] "If I were a man I'd pay attention to that phrase '5 O'Clock Shadow.' It's that messy beard growth which appears prematurely about 5 P.M." [advertisement for Gem razors and blades in Life magazine, May 9, 1938]