http://www.etymonline.com/
http://www.dictionary.com/
one - O.E. an, from P.Gmc. *ainaz, from PIE *oinos. Originally pronounced as it still is in only, and in dial. good 'un, young 'un, etc., the now-standard pronunciation "wun" began c.14c. in southwest and west England (Tyndale, a Gloucester man, spells it won in his Bible translation), began to be general 18c. Use as indefinite pronoun infl. by unrelated Fr. on and L. homo. One-horse "small-scale, petty" is Amer.Eng. colloquial from 1854. One-night stand is 1880 in performance sense; 1963 in sexual sense. One of the boys "ordinary amiable fellow" is from 1893. One-track mind is from 1927.
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=one
first - O.E. fyrst "foremost," superl. of fore, from P.Gmc. *furisto (cf. O.H.G. furist, O.N. fyrstr, Dan. første, O.Fris. fersta, M.Du. vorste "first," Ger. Fürst "prince" ), superl. of *fur-/*for-, from PIE *pro- (cf. Skt. pura "before, formerly," Eng. fore). First-class (1858) "is from the universities via the railways" [Weekley]; first-rate (1666) is from classes of warships in the British navy. First aid is that given at the scene, pending the arrival of a doctor; firsthand is attested from 1732. First lady "wife of a U.S. president" seems to have been first used in 1948.
etc.
>> une petite idee sur koi porter la recherche ?
* Chercher l'apparition de l'écriture des chiffres - d'abord romains, puis arabes ? Différentes façons de les écrire au cours des siècles ?
* Chercher les similitudes / les époques de séparation des évolutions des nombres dans les langues proches. Anglais = langue germanique, c'est encore assez clair aujourd'hui : one / ein, two / zwei, three / drei, .... first / erste, etc.