teruncius

English

Etymology

Latin teruncius

Noun

teruncius (plural teruncii)

1. (historical) An ancient Roman coin worth one quarter of an as.

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Latin

Alternative forms

• terruncius

Etymology

Substantivisation of the otherwise-unattested adjective *teruncius (“of three twelfths”) in elliptical use for the phrase nummus teruncius (“a three-twelfths coin”), the adjective deriving from ter (“thrice”) +‎ uncia (“a twelth”) +‎ -us (suffix forming adjectives).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /teˈruːn.ki.us/, [t̪ɛˈruːŋkiʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /teˈrun.t͡ʃi.us/, [t̪eˈrun̠ʲt͡ʃius]

Noun

terūncius m (genitive terūnciī or terūncī); second declension

1. a bronze coin valued at three unciae or one-quarter of an as, a “farthing”
   1. (transferred sense) something of negligible value, a trifle
2. (of inheritances, in the phrase ex terunciō) a fourth part, a quarter

Declension

Second-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	terūncius	terūnciī
Genitive	terūnciī terūncī1	terūnciōrum
Dative	terūnciō	terūnciīs
Accusative	terūncium	terūnciōs
Ablative	terūnciō	terūnciīs
Vocative	terūncie	terūnciī

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

Synonyms

• (bronze coin worth ³⁄₁₂ of an as): quadrāns
• (trifle): gerrae pl, naucum, pilus
• (quarter): quarta

Derived terms

• terunciolus (New Latin)

References

• “teruncĭus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• tĕruncĭus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette, page 1,562/1.
• “terruncius (teruncius)” on page 1,929/3 of the Oxford Latin Dictionary (1st ed., 1968–82)

Further reading

• Teruncius (coin) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Teruncius (nummus) on the Latin Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^la