noun · masculinesecond declension
octārius
octārius m (genitive octāriī)
Meaning
- New Latinthe pint (eighth of a gallon) in the English apothecaries' system
℞ Ammoniae Hydrochloratis uncias decem, Calcis uncias octo, Aquae octarios duos; Calcem aquâ resolutam in retortam mitte, dein Ammoniae Hydrochloratem in frustula contritam et reliquam Aquam adjice. Destillent Liquoris Ammoniae fluidunciae quindecim
1836, Pharmacopoeia Collegii Regalis Medicorum Londinensis, London, page 56:If we ordered pills by the pound or pint, we should then be obliged to put their name in the genitive; as, for example, as follows: R. Pilularum Catharticarum Compositarum octarium unum; that is, Take one pint of Compound Cathartic Pills.
1878, Frederic Henry Gerrish, Prescription Writing. Designed for the Use of Medical Students who Have Never Studied Latin (overall work in English), Portland, ME.: Loring, Short and Harmon, page 35:
Declension
| form | singular | plural |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | octārius | octāriī octāviī |
| genitive | octāriī octāviī | octāriōrum octāviōrum |
| dative | octāriō octāviō | octāriīs octāviīs |
| accusative | octārium octāvium | octāriōs octāviōs |
| ablative | octāriō octāviō | octāriīs octāviīs |
| vocative | octārie octāvie | octāriī octāviī |
Origins
From oct- (as in octō (“eight”) and octāvus (“eighth”)) + -ārius (adjective-forming suffix), due to it being an eighth part of a gallon. Likely modeled after sextārius, from sextus (“sixth”), used in Classical Latin as the name of a unit of volume (the sester) equivalent to a sixth of a Latin congius; compare also quārtārius, another volume measure in Ancient Roman units of measurement. However, strict analogy with sextārius would have required the use of the form octāvārius instead.
In English words that came into English from octārius
- octariusoctārius