noun · masculinethird declension
sēmis
sēmis m (genitive sēmissis)
Classical[ˈseː.mɪs]Ecclesiastical[ˈsɛː.mis]
Meaning
- a half, a half-unit
- a coin worth half an as
Declension
| form | singular | plural |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | sēmis | sēmissēs |
| genitive | sēmissis | sēmissum |
| dative | sēmissī | sēmissibus |
| accusative | sēmissem | sēmissēs |
| ablative | sēmisse | sēmissibus |
| vocative | sēmis | sēmissēs |
Phrases from Meissner's Latin Phrase-Book
- semisses
- 6 per cent (i.e. if for 100 denarii, asses, one pays half a denarius, half an as per month).
- usurae semisses (Jurists)
- 6 per cent.
- semissibus magna copia est
- money is plentiful at 6 per cent.
sēmis, issis (in Vitr., Front., and Pall. indecl., e.g. duo semis pedes, Pall. Febr. 9, 10:
I.
duobus semis pedibus, id. Jan. 10, 3; 13, 7: diametros octo semis, Vitr. 4, 1: passuum milium et semis, Front. Aquaed. 7; cf.: habere duos et semis cubitos, Vulg. Exod. 25, 10 al.), m. cf. semi-; Gr. ἡμι-, ἥμισυ, a half, half-unity, a semi-unit (v. as, I.). I. In gen. (very rare for the usual dimidium):
sex domini semissem Africae possidebant, Plin. 18, 6, 7, § 35: patrimonii, Dig. 36, 1, 78, § 7: e libertorum defunctorum bonis, Suet. Ner. 32: cum alter semissem, alter universa fratre excluso (sibi vindicaret), Quint. 7, 1, 62: panem semissem ponebat supra torum, Petr. 64, 6.—II. In partic. (freq. and class.).
A. As a coin,
1. Half an as, a semi-as, Varr. L. L. 5, § 171 Müll.; cf. Prisc. p. 708 P.; Plin. 33, 3, 13, § 44:
lex frumentaria de semissibus et trientibus, Auct. Her. 1, 12, 21; Cic. Sest. 25, 55; Liv. Epit. 60; Ascon. ap. Cic. Pis. 4, p. 9 Orell.; hence, non semissis homo, not worth a groat, i. e. good for nothing, worthless, Vatin. ap. Cic. Fam. 5, 10 a, 1: quid fit! Semis, Hor. A. P. 330.—2. In the times of the later emperors, as a gold coin, a half aureus (containing 59.8 grains of gold, or the present value of 10s. 6 3/4d. sterling), Lampr. Alex. Sev. 39.—
B. As a rate of interest, one half per cent. a month, or, acc. to our mode of computation, six per cent. a year (cf.:
bes, triens, etc.): semissibus magna copia (pecuniae) est, Cic. Fam. 5, 6, 2: usura multiplicata semissibus, Plin. 14, 4, 6, § 56: usura semissium, Col. 3, 3, 9 sq.; for which also, reversely: semisses usurarum, id. 3, 3, 9; and in apposition: semisses usuras promisit, Dig. 22, 1, 13; 22, 45, 134; 46, 3, 102 fin.—C. As a measure of dimension.
1. Half a juger of land:
bina jugera et semisses agri assignati, Liv. 6, 16 fin.; cf. Col. 5, 1, 11; Plin. 18, 19, 49, § 178.—2. A half-foot, half a foot:
interesse sesquipedes inter bina semina in latitudinem, in longitudinem semisses, Plin. 17, 21, 35, § 160: campestris locus alte duos pedes et semissem infodiendus est, Col. 3, 13, 8; Vitr. 4, 1; Front. Aquaed. 7; Pall. Jan. 10, 2; 10, 4; 13, 7; id. Febr. 9, 10 et saep.; Veg. 5, 40, 3; 3, 11, 4.—3. Half a cubit:
cubitum ac semissem, Vulg. Exod. 25, 17.—D. Among mathematicians, the number three, Vitr. 3, 1, 6; cf. as fin.
Charlton Lewis's shorter dictionary for students: the same scholarship in plain, modern definitions.
sēmis issis, m
semi+as, a half-unit, one half : HS singulos semīs accessionis dare, i. e. one and a half sesterces of premium (on each medimnus): bina iugera et semisses agri adsignati, L.— Half an as : non semissis homo, not worth a groat : (ad quincuncem) redit uncia, quid fit? Semis, H. —Plur abl ., as monthly interest, at one half per cent. a month, at half a denarius for each hundred (i. e. six per cent. per annum): semissibus magna copia (pecuniae) est.
Origins
From sēmi- (“half”) + as (“a whole, a farthing”).
Descendants
- Spanishjeme
- Italianscemofrom Late Latin semus
- Sardiniansemufrom Late Latin semus
- Italianscemarefrom Vulgar Latin *exsēmāre
- Sicilianscemufrom Late Latin semus
- Venetansemofrom Late Latin semus
- Sicilianscimunirifrom Vulgar Latin *exsēmāre