Etymologically
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sexta

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Forms

sexta f (genitive sextae); first declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin sextus (“sixth”), its feminine used as a noun in agreement with an implied hōra (“hour”), “the sixth hour”.[1][2] Köbler likewise derives it from the ordinal.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's earliest source for the noun is the Peregrinatio Aetheriae;[3] it named the sixth hour of daylight, noon, and the office said at that hour.[1][3]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Latin the feminine sexta was used, by itself or with pars, for one-sixth of something.[4]

The sixth hour of daylight was noon,[1] and in the Church sexta became the name of the office said at that hour, Sext, one of the canonical hours.[5][6][2] Gregory of Tours records that a bishop of Tours had Terce and Sext said in his church.[7]

Medieval music theory used it for the sixth degree of the scale and for the interval of a sixth.[8] Du Cange also lists it as a measure of liquids and as the name of a forbidden game in the statutes of Pistoia.[7] It is the source of Spanish siesta and Portuguese sesta.[1]

Timeline

  • after 384 AD – The Peregrinatio Aetheriae, Köbler's earliest source for the noun.[3]
  • 538/539–594 AD – Gregory of Tours uses it for the office of Sext.[7][3]
  • 10th–11th century – A dialogue attributed to Odo uses it for the sixth note of the scale.[8]
  • early 15th century – Borrowed into English as sext, the canonical hour.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (Classical Latin) A sixth part, one-sixth.[4]
  2. The sixth hour of daylight, noon.[1][3]
  3. (Ecclesiastical Latin) Sext, the office said at the sixth hour, one of the canonical hours.[5][6]
  4. (Medieval Latin, music) The sixth note of the scale; the interval of a sixth.[8]
  5. (Medieval Latin) A measure of liquids.[7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  4. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  6. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  7. ^ a b c d du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
  8. ^ a b c Lexicon musicum Latinum medii aevi (1992–), Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften; online ed. Wörterbuchnetz