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dupondius

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word dupondius

Confidence
Established
Formation
Compound
First attested
c. 180–102 BC Lucilius More words from the 2nd century BC
Ultimate origin
Latin duo,pondō

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [dʊˈpɔn.di.ʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [duˈpɔn.di.us][1]

Forms

dupondius m (genitive dupondiī or dupondī); second declension[1] Variant spellings include dupundius (Lucilius, Petronius, Pompeian inscriptions), dipondius (Seneca, Petronius, Gaius) and dipundius.[2][3] Varro notes that it was used both as a masculine and as a neuter, dupondium.[3][4]

Etymology

It is from Latin duo (“two”) + pondō (“by weight, a pound”), literally “two pounds”.[2][3][1] Pliny the Elder connects the name with the time when the as was weighed out as a pound.[3]

pondō goes back to Proto-Italic *pondo- (“weight”), an o-grade noun from the root of pendō (“to weigh”).[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lucilius (c. 180–102 BC) has it in the form dupundi.[2][3][6]

Semantic evolution

It was the sum or coin of two asses, and also a weight of two pounds.[2][4] Varro discusses its gender and its derivation, and Cicero uses it in the speech for Quinctius.[3][4] As a measure of length it meant two feet: Columella prescribes a furrow two and three-quarter feet deep.[2]

Timeline

  • c. 180–102 BC – Lucilius uses the form dupundi.[2][3][6]
  • 116–27 BC – Varro discusses the word as the name of a coin.[2][3][6]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it in the speech for Quinctius.[3][4][6]
  • 1st century AD – Columella uses it for a length of two feet.[2][6]
  • before 66 AD – Petronius writes it dupundius and dipondius.[2][3][6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A coin or sum of two asses; a weight of two pounds.[2][4]
  2. A length of two feet.[2]

Word family

  • dupondiārius

References

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

“Dupondius.” Etymologically, 13 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/la/dupondius. Accessed 13 Nov. 2026.

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