sexagesimal
/ˌsɛk.səˈdʒɛ.sɪ.məl/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.34 in modern English
21
Scrabble Score
11
Letters
4
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Of, related to, or based on the number sixty.
Example Sentences
- "The common English divisions of time, longitude, and latitude are all computed using sexagesimal arithmetic."
- "The first sixty argam form the basis for my own sexagesimal use, in the accounting of my business and in the dimensioning of buildings."
- "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."
- "Decimals are actually less convenient than sexagesimals for working with most common fractions."
- "Babylonian mathematics was computed in sexagesimals."
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.
Word Breakdown
- Root: sexagesimalis