as

Forms

as m (genitive assis); third declension^[1] A nominative assis is found in Pliny the Elder, and Varro has a genitive plural assum.^[2] An older form was assārius.^[3]

Etymology

The origin is unknown.^[2][4] The nominative was probably ⟨*ass⟩; the as was first a rectangular bronze plaque weighing a pound, and became a round coin under the empire.^[5] Ernout and Meillet suspected a loanword, perhaps from Etruscan, since lībra and nummus would also be borrowed words.^[5][1] The Thesaurus reports a view that it is the same as assis (“board”), named from the coin's original square shape.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Cato,^[5] who says “what you do not need is dear at an as”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

It is the Roman copper coin and unit of money, at first weighing a pound and later reduced in weight;^[2][1] Varro derives its name from aes “bronze”.^[2][1] As the smallest coin it means a penny or farthing, and unius assis aestimare is to value at nothing, as in Catullus' “let us value all the gossip of stern old men at a single penny”.^[2][3] As a unit it is a pound weight in Ovid, a iugerum of land in Columella, and in arithmetic the number one;^[2] in assem is “in all, in full”.^[2] In law it is a whole estate, and heres ex asse is the sole heir.^[2][3] Vitruvius uses it of a round valve and Pliny the Elder of a round slice.^[2]

Church Latin glosses it as a copper coin or farthing, and in medieval texts it is an obol or halfpenny.^[6][7]

Timeline

• 234–149 BC – Cato of something dear at an as.^[2][5][8]
• 116–27 BC – Varro derives the name from aes.^[2][8]
• 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus of gossip worth a penny.^[2][8]
• 1st century AD – Columella of a unit of land.^[2][8]
• c. 1300 – Its descendant enters English as ace, “one at dice”, through Old French.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. An as, a Roman copper coin, originally weighing a pound.^[2][3][1]
2. A coin of little value, a penny;^[2][3][1] unius assis aestimare, to value at nothing.^[2][3][1]
3. A unit: a pound weight; a iugerum; the number one;^[2][1] in assem, in all, in full.^[2][1]
4. (law) A whole estate;^[2][3][1] heres ex asse, the sole heir.^[2][3][1]
5. A round valve; a round slice.^[2][1]

Word family

• sēmis
• bes
• dēs
• tressis
• nōnussis
• decussis

Related words

• aes
• English ace

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
5. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
6. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
7. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
8. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
9. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com