quindecim

Forms

quīndecim (indeclinable)^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin quīnque (“five”) + decem (“ten”).^[2][3][1] De Vaan traces quīnque to Proto-Italic *kʷenkʷe and Proto-Indo-European *penkʷe (“five”), and decem to Proto-Italic *dekm̥ and Proto-Indo-European *deḱm̥ (“ten”).^[4] The /i/ of ⟨-decim⟩ is not well explained: de Vaan rejects a metathesis and thinks it was taken from the ordinals in ⟨-decimus⟩.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler date it from the Twelve Tables, which have “fifteen pounds”.^[4][5][3]

Semantic evolution

It is the plain numeral fifteen: Plautus has a soldier who paid fifteen minae, and Caesar about fifteen days.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 450 BC – The Twelve Tables have quindecim pondo.^[3][5]
• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of fifteen minae.^[3][5]
• c. 50 BC – Caesar of about fifteen days.^[3][5]

Meanings

Numeral

1. Fifteen.^[2][3][1][6]

Word family

• quīndeciēns
• quindecimprimi
• quīndecimvir
• quīndecimvirātus

Related words

• quīnque
• decem

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson