sextus

Forms

sextus (feminine sexta, neuter sextum); first/second-declension numeral^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *sekstos (“sixth”), formed from *seks (“six”), the source of sex (“six”).^[2][1][3] De Vaan derives the numeral from Proto-Indo-European *(s)weḱs (“six”) and the ordinal from ⟨*uks-ó-⟩, while Wiktionary reconstructs ⟨*swéḱstos⟩;^[2][1] Proto-Italic lost the /w/ of ⟨*sweks⟩ by analogy with ⟨*septm⟩ “seven”.^[2][1] A Venetic name ⟨segtio⟩ “Sextiō” continues the same ordinal.^[2] Cognate with Ancient Greek ἕξ (héx, “six”), Gothic 𐍃𐌰𐌹𐌷𐍃 (saihs, “six”) and Lithuanian šešì (“six”).^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus is its first author,^[4] with hoc est sextum ā portā proxumum angiportum, “this is the sixth alley from the gate” in the Pseudolus.^[3]

Semantic evolution

It is the ordinal “sixth”, as Ovid's “the sixth milestone from the city”, and with decimus forms “sixteenth”.^[3][5] Sexta pars, or the feminine alone, is a sixth part, as Cicero's sixth of an inheritance.^[3] Statius uses bis sextus for twelve, of a consul's lictors.^[3]

Church Latin has sextum, “for the sixth time”.^[6] Köbler records it in early medieval laws and charters.^[4]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of the sixth alley.^[3][4]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero of a sixth of an inheritance.^[3][4]
• c. 45–96 AD – Statius has bis sextus for twelve.^[3][4]

Meanings

Numeral

1. Sixth;^[3][5][1] sextus decimus, sixteenth.^[3][5][1]
2. sexta pars (or sexta): a sixth part.^[3]
3. sextum: for the sixth time.^[6]

Word family

• bisextus
• sexta
• sextadecimānī
• sextaneus
• sextānī
• sexticeps
• sextīlis

Related words

• sex
• sēnī
• sexāgintā
• sextārius

Usage notes

The praenomen Sextus, abbreviated Sex., is a separate entry in the OLD.^[3][5] Wiktionary suggests it referred first to the month of birth, Sextīlis, rather than to the order of birth.^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson