Etymologically
Log in

sexagesimus

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 20 October 2026 at 12:17. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [sɛk.saːˈɡeː.sɪ.mʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [seɡ.zaˈd͡ʒɛː.s̬i.mus][1]

Forms

sexāgēsimus (feminine sexāgēsima, neuter sexāgēsimum); first/second-declension numeral[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin sexāgintā (“sixty”) + -ēsimus,[2][1] also spelt ⟨sexāgēnsimus⟩ and ⟨sexāgēnsumus⟩.[2] De Vaan explains sexāgintā as sex (“six”) with an ⟨-ā-⟩ inserted on the model of quadrāgintā; sex goes back to Proto-Italic *seks and Proto-Indo-European *(s)ueks (“six”).[3] Cognate with Ancient Greek ἕξ (héx), Old Irish sé and Lithuanian šešì.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan and Köbler record it first in Terence,[3][4] who has annō quīntō et sexāgēsimō, “in his sixty-fifth year”.[5][6]

Semantic evolution

It is the regular ordinal “sixtieth”, used of years of age (Cicero says that Hortensius pleaded for Appius in his sixty-fourth year), of days and of harvests (Martial).[5][2] The feminine sexāgēsima, with pars understood, means a sixtieth part, as of a denarius in Pliny the Elder.[2][5] In Ecclesiastical Latin Sexāgēsima became the name of the second Sunday before Lent.[7]

Timeline

  • 190–159 BC – Terence uses it of a person's age.[5][3][4]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of years and of days.[5][4]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses the feminine for a sixtieth part.[2][5][4]
  • 40–102/103 AD – Martial counts harvests with it.[2][4]
  • Ecclesiastical Latin – Sexāgēsima names the second Sunday before Lent.[7]

Meanings

Numeral

  1. Sixtieth.[2][5]
  2. sexāgēsima (feminine, as a noun): a sixtieth part.[2][5]
  3. (Ecclesiastical Latin) Sexāgēsima: Sexagesima, the second Sunday before Lent.[7]

References

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