sestertius

English

Etymology

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Latin sēstertius (“that is two-and-a-half”), from sēmis (“half”) + tertius (“third”).

Noun

sestertius (plural sestertii)

1. (historical) A large bronze or (rarely) small silver coin minted during the Roman Republic and Empire, valued at two and a half asses (a quarter of a denarius).

Synonyms

• sesterce

Translations

Roman coin

• Catalan: sesterci m
• French: sesterce (fr) m
• German: Sesterz m, Sesterze f
• Italian: sesterzio m
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Japanese: セステルティウス (sesuterutiusu)
• Latin: sēstertius m
• Portuguese: sestércio (pt) m
• Spanish: sestercio (es) m

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Latin

Alternative forms

• HS (symbol)

Etymology

From sēmis (“half”) + tertius (“third”), due to its value in asses.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /seːsˈter.ti.us/, [s̠eːs̠ˈt̪ɛrt̪iʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /sesˈter.t͡si.us/, [sesˈt̪ɛrt̪͡s̪ius]

Noun

sēstertius m (genitive sēstertiī or sēstertī); second declension

1. sesterce (small coin worth 2 and a half asses)
2. two and a half (only in certain phrases)

Usage notes

Four sesterces were equal to one denarius, and a hundred sesterces to one aureus. Although there were larger coins in the empire, many large prices were calculated in sesterces instead.

When a distributive numeral is used in front of the neuter plural sēstertia, it is read as that many thousands of sesterces. When a numeral adverb is used in front of the genitive plural sēstertium, it is read as that many hundred thousands of sesterces.

Declension

Second-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	sēstertius	sēstertiī
Genitive	sēstertiī sēstertī1	sēstertiōrum
Dative	sēstertiō	sēstertiīs
Accusative	sēstertium	sēstertiōs
Ablative	sēstertiō	sēstertiīs
Vocative	sēstertie	sēstertiī

¹Found in older Latin (until the Augustan Age).

Synonyms

• nummus

Descendants

• English: sesterce

References

• “sestertius”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “sestertius”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• sestertius in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• “sestertius”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “sestertius”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin