Sextilis

Forms

Sextīlis (neuter Sextīle); third-declension two-termination adjective^[1] The accusative plural Sextīliās occurs in an Oxyrhynchus papyrus.^[2]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin sextus (“sixth”) + -īlis,^[2][1] from its place as the sixth month of the old Roman year, which was counted from March, so that it became the eighth month of the later calendar.^[3][1] sextus goes back to Proto-Italic *seks-to- and Proto-Indo-European *uks-ó- (“sixth”).^[4] Bede already explains that the month took its name from its number.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It appears in Republican inscriptions, with a dated example from 117 BC,^[6] and Cicero uses it to name the month in his letters.^[3][7]

Semantic evolution

As an adjective it went with mēnsis “month” and with the names of days, as in Īdibus Sextīlibus “on the Ides of August” in Cicero's letters to Atticus; on its own, as a masculine noun, it named the month.^[2][8][9] Macrobius quotes a decree of the Senate with mēnse Sextīlī.^[9] The month was formally renamed mēnsis Augustus in 27 BC,^[2] and Bede writes that August had been called Sextilis until a decree of the Senate gave it the honour of the emperor's name.^[5]

In British Medieval Latin the adjective also had an astronomical sense: aspectus sextīlis, the sextile aspect, was the position of two planets with a sixth of the zodiac between them.^[5] English took sextile into astrology in the late 14th century.^[10]

Timeline

• 117 BC – The form sextilis appears in a dated inscription.^[6]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it in dates in his letters.^[3][8][7]
• 65–8 BC – Horace writes Sextīlī mēnse, “in the month of Sextilis”.^[9][3][7]
• 27 BC – The month is formally renamed mēnsis Augustus.^[2]
• first half of the 5th century AD – Macrobius quotes a decree of the Senate that uses it.^[9][7]
• first third of the 8th century – Bede explains the name from the month's number.^[5][7]
• late 14th century – English borrows sextile as a term of astrology.^[10]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of the month of August, the sixth (later the eighth) month of the Roman calendar; with mēnsis, the month itself.^[2][9]
2. (Medieval Latin, astrology) Sextile: of two planets a sixth of the zodiac apart.^[5]

Noun

1. The month of August.^[2][11]

Related words

• sextus
• English sextile

Usage notes

The lowercase spelling sextīlis is a letter-case variant.^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
4. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b c d e Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b Kaše, Vojtěch; Heřmánková, Petra; Sobotková, Adéla et al. (2024), LIST: Latin Inscriptions in Space and Time, v1.2 (EDCS + EDH), Aarhus: SDAM, doi:10.5281/zenodo.10473706
7. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
8. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
9. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
11. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson