Etymologically
Log in

deunx

History Permalink

Etymology and origin of the Latin word deunx

Confidence
Established
Formation
Compound
First attested
81–43 BC, Cicero
Ultimate origin
Latin dē-,ūncia
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin uncia
Dutch ons
Latin deunx
From the same root
English inch ← uncia
Latin quincunx ← uncia
Latin semuncia ← uncia

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈde.uːŋks], [ˈde.ʊŋks][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈdɛː.uŋks], [ˈdɛː.uŋks][1]

Forms

deū̆nx m (genitive deū̆ncis); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin dē- + ūncia (“a twelfth”), that is, a whole less a twelfth;[2][1] the OLD compares dēsum “to be lacking”, and the TLL derives it the same way, comparing quincunx and septunx.[2][3] Varro explains it in the same way, as a whole with one ounce taken away.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in Cicero, in the phrase hērēs ex deunce, an heir to eleven twelfths of an estate.[4][5]

Semantic evolution

The word meant eleven twelfths of an as or of any unit divided into twelve parts:[2] Columella uses it of a iūgerum of land.[4] Since interest was reckoned in twelfths, Persius' avidī deuncēs means a greedy eleven per cent,[4] and Martial uses deuncēs for eleven measures of wine.[4] The TLL records confusion with the term for ten twelfths among the grammarians and glossaries, where the spelling diunx also occurs.[3]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero speaks of an heir “ex deunce”.[4][5]
  • 116–27 BC – Varro explains the word in De lingua Latina.[4][3][5]
  • 1st century AD – Columella uses it of a measure of land.[4][5]
  • 34–62 AD – Persius uses it of interest at eleven per cent.[4][5]
  • 40–102/103 AD – Martial uses it of eleven measures of wine.[4][5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Eleven twelfths (of an as or other unit).[2][4]
  2. (plural) Interest at eleven per cent.[4]
  3. (plural) Eleven measures (of wine).[4]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
Cite this entry

“Deunx.” Etymologically, 24 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/deunx. Accessed 24 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·