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ducenti

Etymology and origin of the Latin word ducenti

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Compound
First attested
Plautus
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*dwóh₁,*dḱm̥tóm)

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [dʊˈkɛn.tiː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [duˈt͡ʃɛn.ti][1]

Forms

ducentī (feminine ducentae, neuter ducenta); first/second-declension numeral, plural only[1] Genitive usually ducentōrum, also ducentum, and Lucilius and Columella have a singular ducentum.[2][3]

Etymology

It is from duo “two” and centum “hundred”.[2][1][4] De Vaan traces ⟨duo⟩ to Proto-Indo-European *dwoh₁ (“two”) and ⟨centum⟩ to Proto-Indo-European *dḱm̥tóm (“hundred”).[5] The Thesaurus compares Sanskrit द्विशत (dviśata, “two hundred”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's earliest source is Plautus, whom he dates c. 250–184 BC.[6]

Semantic evolution

It meant two hundred, as in Cicero, and also an indefinitely large number.[2][7]

In Ecclesiastical and Medieval Latin it kept the sense two hundred, as in Gildas' description of Britain as two hundred miles wide.[8][9] It survives in Italian duecento, Spanish doscientos and Portuguese duzentos.[1]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.[6]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it.[7][6]

Meanings

Numeral

  1. Two hundred.[2]
  2. An indefinitely large number.[7]

Word family

  • ducēnī
  • ducentēnī
  • ducentēsimus

References

  1. ^ a b c d e 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. ^ 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. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  6. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  8. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  9. ^ 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
Cite this entry

“Ducenti.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/ducenti. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·