semis

Forms

sēmis m (genitive sēmissis); third declension^[1] It is also indeclinable, especially in numbers such as duo et sēmis “two and a half”.^[2][3] An inscription has the ablative sēmissa, and a Gaulish coin the nominative simissos.^[2]

Etymology

It is apparently a compound of sēmi- (“half”) and ās (“the as, a unit”), “half an as”.^[2][1][4][5] The prefix is inherited from Proto-Italic *sēmi-, from Proto-Indo-European *sēm-i (“in one”), whose meaning shifted from “in one” to “one of two” and then “half”; it is cognate with Ancient Greek ἡμι- (hēmi-, “half”) and Old English sām- (“half”).^[5]

Georges separates an indeclinable ⟨sēmis⟩ “half”, which he thinks probably comes from Ancient Greek ἥμισυ (hḗmisu, “half”).^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Rhetorica ad Herennium mentions a grain law that set the price of grain at a semis and a triens.^[7][8] De Vaan dates it from Varro.^[5]

Semantic evolution

It was the half of an as, first as a coin and a money of account,^[2][7] and so a byword for something of little worth: one of Cicero's correspondents calls a man “not worth a semis”.^[2][7] In the plural it was a rate of interest, a half per cent a month.^[2][7] It also meant half of any unit of measure, such as half a foot,^[2][4] and as an adjective Petronius has a half loaf.^[2]

British Medieval Latin kept it as half of an as and of other measures;^[9] Bede explains it as six ounces.^[9]

Timeline

• 86/82 BC – The Rhetorica ad Herennium names a grain law after the semis.^[7][8]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it in fractions.^[2][8]
• 1st century AD – Columella uses it of interest.^[2][8]
• before 66 AD – Petronius has a half loaf (pānem sēmissem).^[2][8]
• early 8th century – Bede reckons it as six ounces.^[9][8]

Meanings

Noun

1. Half an as, a coin of that value.^[2][3]
2. (figurative) A trifle;^[2][7] nōn sēmissis homō, a man of no account.^[2][7]
3. (plural) Interest at a half per cent a month.^[2][7]
4. Half of any unit or measure.^[2][9]

Adjective

1. Half.^[2][7]

Word family

• sēmissālis
• sēmissārius

Related words

• sēstertius

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 l m n o p q Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier
5. ^ 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
6. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
9. ^ a b c d 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