Etymologically
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sextus

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈsɛk.stʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈsɛk.stus][1]

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
  • 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