sestertius

From Latin sēstertius (“that is two-and-a-half”), from sēmis (“half”) + tertius (“third”).

sestertius (plural sestertii)

1. (historical numismatics) 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).

   Synonym: sesterce

Learned borrowing from Latin sēstertius (“that is two-and-a-half”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈsestertius/, [ˈs̠e̞s̠te̞rˌt̪ius̠]
• Rhymes: -ius
• Syllabification^(key): ses‧ter‧ti‧us

sestertius

1. (historical, numismatics) sestertius

• HS (symbol)

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

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

sēstertius m (genitive sēstertiī or sēstertī); second declension

1. sesterce (small coin worth 2 and a half asses, later 4 asses)
2. two and a half (only in certain phrases)

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.

Second-declension noun.

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

• nummus

• Catalan: sesterci
• → English: sesterce
• → Finnish: sestertius
• Italian: sesterzio
• Portuguese: sestércio
• Spanish: sestercio

• “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