sesquipedalis

Latin

Etymology

From sēsquipes (“1½ feet”) +‎ -ālis (“-al: forming adjectives”), from sēsqui- (“a half and a”) + pes (“foot, Roman foot”). Equivalent to sēsqui- +‎ pedālis (“footlong”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [seːs.kʷɪ.pɛˈdaː.lɪs]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ses.kʷi.peˈd̪aː.lis]

Adjective

sēsquipedālis (neuter sēsquipedāle); third-declension two-termination adjective

1. (relational) A foot and a half, half a yard
2. (relational) A foot and a half long, half a yard long
3. Excessively long (of speeches)

Declension

Third-declension two-termination adjective.

	singular			plural
	masc./fem.	neuter		masc./fem.	neuter
nominative	sēsquipedālis	sēsquipedāle		sēsquipedālēs	sēsquipedālia
genitive	sēsquipedālis			sēsquipedālium
dative	sēsquipedālī			sēsquipedālibus
accusative	sēsquipedālem	sēsquipedāle		sēsquipedālēs sēsquipedālīs	sēsquipedālia
ablative	sēsquipedālī			sēsquipedālibus
vocative	sēsquipedālis	sēsquipedāle		sēsquipedālēs	sēsquipedālia

Descendants

• English: sesquipedal
• Italian: sesquipedale
• Spanish: sesquipedal

References

• “sesquipedalis”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “sesquipedalis”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “sesquipedalis”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.