sestertius Latin · revision 33187

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=compound|attested=c. 450 BC, Twelve Tables|origins=la sēmis, la tertius}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [seːsˈtɛr.ti.ʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [sesˈtɛr.t͡si.us]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''sēstertius''' ''m'' (genitive sēstertiī or sēstertī); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+ Written ''HS'' as the coin and in sums of money.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) The genitive plural is usually ''sēstertium''.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|sēmis|tertius|t1=half|t2=third]], contracted from ⟨*sēmis-tertius⟩, “the third (unit) half”, that is, two and a half.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary) The OLD compares [[de|drittenhalb]].^(OLD 2012) De Vaan traces [[m|la|sēmi-]] to [[itc-pro|*sēmi-]] and [[ine-pro|*sēm-i|t=in one]], with the meaning shifting from “in one” to “one of two” and “half”.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The jurist Maecianus reports that the law of the Twelve Tables calls a measure of two and a half feet ''sestertius pes''.^(OLD 2012) De Vaan dates it in the texts from Varro.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ As an adjective it means “worth two and a half units”, and Columella records ''sestertium'' as the farmers' name for a spade that digs two and a half feet deep.^(OLD 2012) As a masculine noun, short for ''nummus'', it is the coin worth two and a half ''asses'', a quarter of a ''dēnārius'', which Cicero uses in reckoning prices.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) It was later reckoned at four ''asses''.^(Wiktionary) With multiples of ''mīlia'' it counts thousands of sesterces, and Catullus leaves ''mīlia'' out.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 450 BC – The Twelve Tables, as reported by Maecianus, of a foot of two and a half.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 116–27 BC – Varro, of thousands of sesterces.^(OLD 2012)^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero, of the coin in prices of grain.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus, ''decem sestertia'' for ten thousand sesterces.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1st century AD – Columella, of a spade.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Worth two and a half times the unit.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # With ''mīlia'' (or alone in the neuter plural), so many thousand sesterces.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|sesterce]], a coin worth two and a half ''asses'', a quarter of a [[dēnārius]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(neuter)'' A spade that digs two and a half feet deep.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[sēstertium]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[sēmis]]

+ * [[tertius]]

+ * [[nummus]]

+ * [[dēnārius]]

+ * [[as]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}