five-run
UK[ˈfaɪv rʌn]US[ˈfaɪv rʌn]
adj
In baseball, describing a hit that allows the batter and all runners on base to score, resulting in five runs.
n
An instance of scoring five runs from a single play in baseball.
Morpheme Breakdown
five
run
five
quantity
run
score
Etymology
The compound "five-run" is a modern American English formation specific to the sport of baseball. Its logic is transparently numerical and action-based, combining the cardinal number "five," with ancient Germanic roots, and the noun "run," which evolved from an Old English verb describing rapid movement. In baseball terminology, "run" was semantically narrowed to mean "a point scored," and when prefixed with "five," it precisely denotes the maximum possible scoring outcome from a single at-bat. This compound exemplifies how English readily creates precise, rule-specific terminology by combining simple, foundational words from its Germanic heritage.
Analysis
Structure: five (quantity) + run (score)
- five: From Old English 'fīf', of Germanic origin; related to Dutch 'vijf' and German 'fünf', from an Indo-European root shared by Latin 'quinque' and Greek 'pente'. Functions as a cardinal number.
- run: From Old English 'rinnan', 'irnan' (to run), of Germanic origin; related to Dutch 'rennen' and German 'rennen'. In this compound, it functions as a noun meaning a unit of scoring in baseball.
Examples
The batter cleared the bases with a grand slam, but it was only a four-run homer, not a five-run hit.
A five-run inning completely shifted the momentum of the game.
There is no official statistic for a five-run home run, as a grand slam scores four runs at most.