sexagesimal
Americanadjective
noun
adjective
noun
Etymology
Origin of sexagesimal
From the Medieval Latin word sexāgēsimālis, dating back to 1675–85. See Sexagesima, -al 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
That same astronomical thinking led them to patch the ancient Babylonian method of counting by 60, the sexagesimal system, onto the hour.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 25, 2022
Minutes and seconds derive from the sexagesimal partitions of the degree introduced by Babylonian astronomers.
From Scientific American ● Dec. 31, 2011
For astronomical purposes the Greeks adopted a sexagesimal number system and even divided hours into 60 minutes, and minutes into 60 seconds.
From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife
The hours were divided into minutes and seconds, a system derived from the sexagesimal notation which prevailed before the decimal system was finally adopted.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 6, Slice 5 "Clervaux" to "Cockade" by Various
We have sixty divisions on the dials of our watches simply because the Greek astronomer Hipparchus, who lived in the second century B. C., accepted the Babylonian system of reckoning time, that system being sexagesimal.
From Chips From A German Workshop, Vol. V. Miscellaneous Later Essays by F. Max (Friedrich Max) Müller
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
