solidus
English


Etymology
From Middle English solidus, from classical Latin solidus (“solid”), see below.
In numismatic and weight senses, via medieval Latin solidus (“various coins”), from Late Latin solidus (“a gold coin of the Roman Empire”). In chemical sense, via German Solidus, coined by H.W.B. Roozeboom in his 1899 Zeitschrift für Physikalische Chemie, Stöchiometrie, und Verwandtschaftslehre (XXX, page 387).
In typography, from the shilling mark originally being an abbreviation (a long s ⟨ſ⟩), of Medieval Latin solidus meaning shilling.
Pronunciation
- (General American) enPR: sŏl'ĭdəs, IPA(key): /ˈsɑlɪdəs/
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈsɒlɪdəs/
Audio (US) (file)
Noun
solidus (plural solidi or soliduses)
- (historical) Various medieval and early modern coins or units of account, particularly:
- A Roman ~23k gold coin introduced by Diocletian in AD 301 and called by that name, but reissued at a slightly lower weight by Constantine I.
- Its successor Byzantine coins, from the eleventh century onward of progressively debased weight and purity.
- (obsolete) Synonym of sol or sou: a Carolingian unit of account equivalent to a solidus of silver.
- (obsolete) Synonym of soldo: the silver coins of various Italian states.
- (obsolete) Synonym of shilling: an English unit of account and, following the Tudor dynasty, silver coin.
- (historical) The weight of the Roman gold coin, 1/60 of a Roman pound under Diocletian or 1/72 lb. (about 4.5 grams) after Constantine.
- (historical) A medieval French weight, 1/20 of the Carolingian pound.
- (typography) Synonym of slash ⟨/⟩, originally (UK) in its use as the shilling mark and now its formal designation by the ISO and Unicode.
- (typography) The formal name of the oblique strikethrough overlay (as in A̷ and B̸) in Unicode.
- (typography) The division line between the numerator and the denominator of a fraction, whether horizontal or oblique.
- (chemistry, physics) The line in a phase diagram marking the temperatures and pressures below which a given substance is a stable solid.
Synonyms
- (Roman coin): nomisma, bezant (in Greek and Byzantine contexts)
- (debased Byzantine successors): nomisma, hyperpyron, bezant
- (typographic symbols): See slash and strikethrough
See also
- (Roman coin under Diocletian): argenteus (notionally 1/10 solidus); nummus (1/40); radiate (1/200); laureate (1/500); denarius (1/1000)
- (Roman coin after Constantine I): miliarense (notionally 1/12 solidus); siliqua (1/24; a modern term); follis (1/180); nummus (1/7200)
- (Byzantine coins): dinar (a ~20k Arabian copy); semissis (notionally 1/2 solidus); tremissis (1/3 solidus)
- (English coin): pound, pound sterling, libra (20 solidi); penny, denarius (1/12 solidus)
- (Roman weight): Roman pound, librum (72 solidi); siliqua (1/24 solidus)
- (French weight): livre, librum, pound (20 solidi); denarius, denier (1/12 solidus)
- liquidus
- macron
- vinculum
References
- Oxford English Dictionary, "solidus, n.1" and "solidus, n.2"
- “solidus”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
- “solidus”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
Anagrams
Latin
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Proto-Italic *soliðos, from Proto-Indo-European *solh₂-i-dʰ-o-s (“entire”), suffixed form of root *solh₂- (“integrate, whole”).
Pronunciation
- (Classical) IPA(key): /ˈso.li.dus/, [ˈs̠ɔlʲɪd̪ʊs̠]
- (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /ˈso.li.dus/, [ˈsɔːlid̪us]
Adjective
solidus (feminine solida, neuter solidum, comparative solidior, superlative solidissimus, adverb solidē); first/second-declension adjective
Declension
First/second-declension adjective.
Number | Singular | Plural | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Case / Gender | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | |
Nominative | solidus | solida | solidum | solidī | solidae | solida | |
Genitive | solidī | solidae | solidī | solidōrum | solidārum | solidōrum | |
Dative | solidō | solidō | solidīs | ||||
Accusative | solidum | solidam | solidum | solidōs | solidās | solida | |
Ablative | solidō | solidā | solidō | solidīs | |||
Vocative | solide | solida | solidum | solidī | solidae | solida |
Descendants
- Inherited:
- Borrowed:
Noun
solidus m (genitive solidī); second declension
- A solidus: a Roman ~23-carat gold coin introduced by Diocletian in AD 301.
- (Medieval Latin) A bezant: the solidus's debased Byzantine successors.
- (Medieval Latin) A shilling, as a unit of account or silver coin.
- c. 1300, Tractatus de Ponderibus et Mensuris:
- Libra continet viginti solidos
- The [London] pound contains twenty shillings.
Declension
Second-declension noun.
Case | Singular | Plural |
---|---|---|
Nominative | solidus | solidī |
Genitive | solidī | solidōrum |
Dative | solidō | solidīs |
Accusative | solidum | solidōs |
Ablative | solidō | solidīs |
Vocative | solide | solidī |
Descendants
- Balkan Romance:
- Romanian: solz
- Gallo-Italic:
- Piedmontese: sòld
- Ibero-Romance:
- Italo-Romance:
- Òc:
- Oïl:
- Early borrowings:
- Later borrowings:
References
- “solidus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- “solidus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
- solidus in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
- solidus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
- “solidus”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
- solidus in Ramminger, Johann (2016 July 16 (last accessed)) Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700, pre-publication website, 2005-2016
- “solidus”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin
- “solid”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
- Walther von Wartburg (1928–2002) “solidus”, in Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch (in German), volumes 12: Sk–š, page 49
- Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1911) “sŏlĭdus”, in Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch (in German), page 608
Norwegian Bokmål
Noun
solidus m (definite singular solidusen, indefinite plural solidi, definite plural solidiene)
- (historical, numismatics) a solidus