Etymologically
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semis

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈseː.mɪs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈsɛː.mis][1]

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

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