sextans

See also: Sextans

English

A sextans of the Roman Republic, circa 210 BC.

Etymology

From Latin sextāns, from sex (“six”).

Noun

sextans (plural sextantes)

1. (Ancient Rome) A Roman coin worth one sixth of an as.

References

• “sextans”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Latin

Latin numbers ^(edit)

←  5	VI 6	7  →
Cardinal: sex     Ordinal: sextus     Adverbial: sexiēs, sexiēns, sextō     Proportional: sexuplus, sextuplus, sexcuplus     Multiplier: sexuplex, sextuplex, sexcuplex, sēplex, secuplex     Distributive: sēnus     Collective: sēniō     Fractional: sextāns

Etymology

By surface analysis, sex (“six”) +‎ -āns. According to the linguist Albio Cassio, it is more probably a calque of Ancient Greek ἑξᾶς (hexâs), though the Greek forms are more often explained as borrowings from the Latin.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈsɛk.stãːs]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈsɛk.stans]

Noun

sextāns m (genitive sextantis); third declension

1. a sixth, particularly
   1. (historical numismatics) sextans, a coin worth 1/6 as
   2. (historical) sextans, a unit of mass equal to 1/6 libra (Roman pound) or 2 uncia (Roman ounce), about 55 g
   3. (historical) sextans, a unit of area equal to 1/6 juger or 1/3 actus, equivalent to a rectangle with sides of 120×40 pedes (Roman feet), about 420 m²
   4. (historical) sextans, a unit of volume equal to 1/6 sextarius or 1/36 congius, about 90 mL
   5. (historical) sextans, a unit of length equal to 1/6 pes (Roman foot) or 2 uncia (Roman inch), about 5 cm
2. (mathematics) synonym of unus, one, 1/6 of the perfect number six
3. (New Latin, nautical) sextant, a nautical instrument with a sector of 1/6 circle (60°)

Declension

Third-declension noun (i-stem).

	singular	plural
nominative	sextāns	sextantēs
genitive	sextantis	sextantium
dative	sextantī	sextantibus
accusative	sextantem	sextantēs sextantīs
ablative	sextante	sextantibus
vocative	sextāns	sextantēs

Derived terms

• sextantārius

Related terms

• sextānī
• sextārius
• dēxtāns (“five-sixths”)

Descendants

• Russian: секстан (sekstan), секстант (sekstant)

See also

• octāns
• quadrāns

References

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