sexagesimal

See also: sexagésimal

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *sweḱsḱomtder.

Latin sexāgintā

Latin -ēsimus

Latin sexāgēsimus

Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-

Proto-Indo-European *-is

Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.?

Proto-Italic *-ālis

Latin -ālis

Medieval Latin sexagesimalisder.

English sexagesimal

From Medieval Latin sexagesimalis, from sexāgēsimus (“sixtieth”) + -ālis (“-al”), from sexāgintā (“sixty”). Cognate with sexagenary and sexagenarian. Cf. sextal.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌsɛk.səˈdʒɛ.sɪ.məl/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: sexa‧ge‧si‧mal

Adjective

sexagesimal (not comparable)

1. (mathematics) Of, related to, or based on the number sixty.

   Coordinate terms: decimal, quadragesimal

   The common English divisions of time, longitude, and latitude are all computed using sexagesimal arithmetic.

   • 2014 November 24, Michael Thomas De Vlieger, “Multiplication Tables of Various Bases”, in The Number Base‎^[1], archived from the original on 6 February 2023, page 43:

     The first sixty argam form the basis for my own sexagesimal use, in the accounting of my business and in the dimensioning of buildings.

   • 2022, Bonnie Garmus, Lessons in Chemistry, Penguin (2023), page 325:

     She then supplied a detailed description of the Babylonians, who had relied on a sexagesimal system―counting by sixties, she explained―for both mathematics and astronomy.

Synonyms

• sexagenary, base-60

Derived terms

• sexagesimally
• trecentosexagesimal

Translations

related to the number sixty

• Armenian: please add this translation if you can
• Basque: hirurogeitar
• Bulgarian: шестдесети (šestdeseti)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 六十進制 / 六十进制 (liùshí jìnzhì)

• Danish: please add this translation if you can
• Dutch: sexagesimaal (nl), zestigtallig (nl)
• Estonian: please add this translation if you can
• Finnish: 60-kantainen (kuusikymmenkantainen)
• French: sexagésimal (fr)
• Georgian: please add this translation if you can
• German: sexagesimal (de)
• Greek: please add this translation if you can
• Hindi: षष्टाधारी (ṣaṣṭādhārī)
• Hungarian: please add this translation if you can
• Italian: sessagesimale (it)
• Japanese: 六十進法 (rokujisshimpō)
• Korean: 육십진법 (yuksipjinbeop)
• Polish: sześćdziesiątkowy (pl)
• Portuguese: sexagesimal (pt)
• Russian: шестидесятеричный (ru) (šestidesjateričnyj)
• Spanish: sexagesimal
• Swedish: sexagesimal
• Turkish: altmışlı, altmışlık (tr)

Noun

sexagesimal (plural sexagesimals)

1. (mathematics) A fraction involving division by 60; a sixtieth part of something.

   Decimals are actually less convenient than sexagesimals for working with most common fractions.

2. (mathematics) A base-60 number.

   Babylonian mathematics was computed in sexagesimals.

Synonyms

• sexagesm (obsolete)

References

• “sexagesimal, adj. and n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2022.

German

Etymology

From Latin sexagesimalis, from sexagesimus (“sixtieth”), from sexaginta (“sixty”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˌzɛksaɡeziˈmaːl]

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: se‧xa‧ge‧si‧mal

Adjective

sexagesimal (strong nominative masculine singular sexagesimaler, not comparable)

1. sexagesimal, based on the number sixty

   Synonym: hexagesimal

Declension

Positive forms of sexagesimal (uncomparable)

number & gender		singular			plural
		masculine	feminine	neuter
predicative		er ist sexagesimal	sie ist sexagesimal	es ist sexagesimal	sie sind sexagesimal
strong declension (without article)	nominative	sexagesimaler	sexagesimale	sexagesimales	sexagesimale
	genitive	sexagesimalen	sexagesimaler	sexagesimalen	sexagesimaler
	dative	sexagesimalem	sexagesimaler	sexagesimalem	sexagesimalen
	accusative	sexagesimalen	sexagesimale	sexagesimales	sexagesimale
weak declension (with definite article)	nominative	der sexagesimale	die sexagesimale	das sexagesimale	die sexagesimalen
	genitive	des sexagesimalen	der sexagesimalen	des sexagesimalen	der sexagesimalen
	dative	dem sexagesimalen	der sexagesimalen	dem sexagesimalen	den sexagesimalen
	accusative	den sexagesimalen	die sexagesimale	das sexagesimale	die sexagesimalen
mixed declension (with indefinite article)	nominative	ein sexagesimaler	eine sexagesimale	ein sexagesimales	(keine) sexagesimalen
	genitive	eines sexagesimalen	einer sexagesimalen	eines sexagesimalen	(keiner) sexagesimalen
	dative	einem sexagesimalen	einer sexagesimalen	einem sexagesimalen	(keinen) sexagesimalen
	accusative	einen sexagesimalen	eine sexagesimale	ein sexagesimales	(keine) sexagesimalen

Synonyms

• auf die Grundzahl 60 bezogen (descriptive):

Related terms

• Sexagesimalbruch, Sexagesimalstelle, Sexagesimalsystem, Sexagesimalzahl

Further reading

• “sexagesimal”, in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache‎^[2] (in German)
• “sexagesimal” in Duden online

Portuguese

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /sek.sa.ʒe.ziˈmaw/ [sek.sa.ʒe.ziˈmaʊ̯]

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /sɨk.sɐ.ʒɨ.ziˈmal/ [sɨk.sɐ.ʒɨ.ziˈmaɫ]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /sɨk.sɐ.ʒɨ.ziˈmal/ [sɨk.sɐ.ʒɨ.ziˈmaɫ]
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /sɨk.sɐ.ʒɨ.ziˈma.li/

Adjective

sexagesimal m or f (plural sexagesimais)

1. sexagesimal

Further reading

• “sexagesimal”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “sexagesimal”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French sexagésimal.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sek.sa.d͡ʒe.siˈmal/
• Rhymes: -al
• Hyphenation: se‧xa‧ge‧si‧mal

Adjective

sexagesimal m or n (feminine singular sexagesimală, masculine plural sexagesimali, feminine/neuter plural sexagesimale)

1. sexagesimal

Declension

Declension of sexagesimal

		singular			plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine	masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative- accusative	indefinite	sexagesimal		sexagesimală	sexagesimali	sexagesimale
	definite	sexagesimalul		sexagesimala	sexagesimalii	sexagesimalele
genitive- dative	indefinite	sexagesimal		sexagesimale	sexagesimali	sexagesimale
	definite	sexagesimalului		sexagesimalei	sexagesimalilor	sexagesimalelor

Further reading

• “sexagesimal”, in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language) (in Romanian), 2004–2026

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /seɡsaxesiˈmal/ [seɣ̞.sa.xe.siˈmal]
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: se‧xa‧ge‧si‧mal

Adjective

sexagesimal m or f (masculine and feminine plural sexagesimales)

1. sexagesimal

Further reading

• “sexagesimal”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025