sesquialterate

/sɛskwɪˈaltərət/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 0.00 in modern English

Scrabble Score

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Meaning

adj

In a ratio of 3 to 2 or 1½ times to 1.

Archaic

"[…]the ratio of 3 to 2, which is sesquialter, forms the symphony diapente[…]"
"People ignorant of geometry did not know the sesquialterate ratio of the sphere, cylinder, and cone, and therefor no man could know it[…]"
"from Kepler's Rule of the periodical times of the Planets being in a sesquialterate proportion of their distances from the centers of their orbs I deduced […]"
"9 and 6 are in a sesquialterate ratio."

From Latin sesquialter (“one and a half times”) + -ate (adjective-forming suffix), from sesqui- (“a half and a”) + alter (“another, a second”).

sesqui-alterate (alternative)

sesquialter

Questions

How do you pronounce sesquialterate?

The recorded pronunciation is /sɛskwɪˈaltərət/.

What does sesquialterate mean?

In a ratio of 3 to 2 or 1½ times to 1.

Where does sesquialterate come from?

From Latin sesquialter (“one and a half times”) + -ate (adjective-forming suffix), from sesqui- (“a half and a”) + alter (“another, a second”).

How to pronounce sesquialterate

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