decimus

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈdɛ.kɪ.mʊs]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈdɛː.t͡ʃi.mus]^[1]

Forms

decimus (feminine decima, neuter decimum); first/second-declension numeral^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *dekamo- (“tenth”), the ordinal of decem “ten”, from Proto-Indo-European *deḱm (“ten”).^[2][1][3] Lewis & Short describe it as decem with a superlative ending.^[4] A spelling decumus prevailed in later legal language.^[4]

Compare Sanskrit दशम (daśamá, “tenth”) and Old Irish dechmad (“tenth”).^[3][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus uses it of the tenth month and of a tenth part, the tithe.^[4][6] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^[7]

Semantic evolution

It meant tenth, often counted inclusively, as the tenth legion in Caesar and the tenth hour in Cicero.^[3][8] Decimus quisque was every tenth man.^[8] As a noun decima was a tithe.^[6][7] Decimus was also a Roman first name.^[3][4]

In medieval Latin it also meant a tithe payment and a fee of ten per cent.^[7] English dime, “a tenth, tithe”, came through Old French in the late 14th century and was chosen in 1786 for the United States coin.^[9]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of the tenth month and of a tithe.^[4][6][7]
• c. 50 BC – Caesar writes of the tenth legion.^[4][7]
• late 14th century – English dime is recorded.^[9]
• 1801 – English deci- is taken from it through French.^[9]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Tenth.^[3][1]
2. decimus quisque: every tenth one.^[8]
3. (feminine noun, decima) A tenth part, a tithe.^[6][7]

Word family

• decimānus
• decima
• decimō
• octāvusdecimus
• quindecimus

Related words

• decem
• English dime
• English decimate

Usage notes

Decimus, abbreviated D., was a Roman first name, at first for a tenth-born son.^[3][1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ a b c d e f Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
6. ^ a b c d Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
8. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
9. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com