solidus

English

Etymology

From Middle English solidus, from classical Latin solidus (solid), see below. Doublet of sol, sold, soldo, solid, sou, and xu.

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 sſ⟩), 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)

  1. (historical) Various medieval and early modern coins or units of account, particularly:
    1. 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.
    2. Its successor Byzantine coins, from the eleventh century onward of progressively debased weight and purity.
    3. (obsolete) Synonym of sol or sou: a Carolingian unit of account equivalent to a solidus of silver.
    4. (obsolete) Synonym of soldo: the silver coins of various Italian states.
    5. (obsolete) Synonym of shilling: an English unit of account and, following the Tudor dynasty, silver coin.
  2. (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.
  3. (historical) A medieval French weight, 1/20 of the Carolingian pound.
  4. (typography) Synonym of slash/⟩, originally (UK) in its use as the shilling mark and now its formal designation by the ISO and Unicode.
  5. (typography) The formal name of the oblique strikethrough overlay (as in A̷ and B̸) in Unicode.
  6. (typography) The division line between the numerator and the denominator of a fraction, whether horizontal or oblique.
  7. (chemistry, physics) The line in a phase diagram marking the temperatures and pressures below which a given substance is a stable solid.
    Coordinate terms: liquidus, solvus

Synonyms

Translations

See also

References

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).[1]

Pronunciation

Adjective

solidus (feminine solida, neuter solidum, comparative solidior, superlative solidissimus, adverb solidē); first/second-declension adjective

  1. dense, solid, not hollow
  2. whole, entire, thorough, full
    Synonyms: integer, tōtus
  3. firm
    Synonyms: firmus, stabilis
  4. substantial, genuine, true, real

Declension

First/second-declension adjective.

singular plural
masculine feminine neuter masculine feminine neuter
nominative solidus solida solidum solidī solidae solida
genitive solidī solidae solidī solidōrum solidārum solidōrum
dative solidō solidae solidō solidīs
accusative solidum solidam solidum solidōs solidās solida
ablative solidō solidā solidō solidīs
vocative solide solida solidum solidī solidae solida

Derived terms

Descendants

  • Italo-Romance:
    • Italian: sodo, saldo (see there for further descendants)
    • Sicilian: sodu
  • Gallo-Italic:
  • Gallo-Romance:
    • Old French: soude, saude (hard)
    • Old Occitan: sod (raw)
  • Borrowings:

Noun

solidus m (genitive solidī); second declension

  1. A solidus: a Roman ~23-carat gold coin introduced by Diocletian in AD 301.
  2. (Medieval Latin) A bezant: the solidus's debased Byzantine successors.
  3. (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.

Descendants

  • Balkano-Romance:
  • Italo-Romance:
    • Corsican: soldu, sollu (cent)
    • Dalmatian: suald (cent)
    • Italian: soldo (cent)
      • English: soldo
      • Middle French: solde, soulde (balance)
      • Neapolitan: sordo
      • Sicilian: soldu
    • >? Sicilian: sordu (cent)
  • Gallo-Italic:
    • Piedmontese: sòld
  • Northern Gallo-Romance:
  • Southern Gallo-Romance:
  • Ibero-Romance:
  • Borrowings:
    • Ancient:
      • Proto-Brythonic: *solt
        • Old Breton: solt
          • Breton: saout (livestock)
        • Old Cornish: sols
          • Cornish: zowlz
        • Old Welsh: swllt (shilling)
    • Later:

References

  1. ^ De Vaan, Michiel (2008) “solidus”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 571

Further reading

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Latin solidus.

Noun

solidus m (definite singular solidusen, indefinite plural solidi, definite plural solidiene)

  1. (historical, numismatics) a solidus

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Latin solidus.

Noun

solidus m (plural solidusen)

  1. (historical, numismatics) a solidus

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French solidus.

Noun

solidus n (uncountable)

  1. (physics) solidus

Declension

Declension of solidus
singular only indefinite definite
nominative-accusative solidus solidusul
genitive-dative solidus solidusului
vocative solidusule