solidus

English

A solidus of Constantine.

A Byzantine solidus.

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 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)

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.
4. (historical) A medieval French weight, 1/20 of the Carolingian pound.
5. (typography) Synonym of slash ⟨/⟩, originally (UK) in its use as the shilling mark and now its formal designation by the ISO and Unicode.
6. (typography) The formal name of the oblique strikethrough overlay (as in A̷ and B̸) in Unicode.
7. (typography) The division line between the numerator and the denominator of a fraction, whether horizontal or oblique.
8. (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

• (Roman coin): nomisma, bezant (in Greek and Byzantine contexts)
• (debased Byzantine successors): nomisma, hyperpyron, bezant
• (typographic symbols): See slash and strikethrough

Translations

Roman gold coin

• Catalan: sòlid (ca) m
• Esperanto: solido
• French: soldius m
• German: Solidus (de) m
• Portuguese: soldo (pt) m
• Russian: со́лид (ru) m (sólid)
• Spanish: sueldo (es) m

slash — see slash

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

• dulosis

Latin

Alternative forms

• soldus

Etymology

From Proto-Italic *soliðos, from Proto-Indo-European *solh₂-i-dʰ-o-s (“entire”), suffixed form of root *solh₂- (“integrate, whole”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) 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

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

• īnsolidus
• soliditās
• solidō

Descendants

• Inherited:
  • France:
    • Old French: soude, saude (“hard”)
    • Old Occitan: sod (“raw”)
  • Italy:
    • Emilian: soli
    • Italian: sodo, saldo
      • → Portuguese: saldo
      • → Russian: сальдо (salʹdo)
      • → Spanish: saldo
    • Lombard: söli, söda
    • Piedmontese: sore, seuli
    • Sicilian: sodu
  • Spain:
    • Spanish: sueldo
• Borrowed:
  • → Catalan: sòlid
  • → English: solid
  • → French: solide
  • → German: solid
  • → Italian: solido
  • → Portuguese: sólido
  • → Romanian: solid
  • → Russian: соли́дный (solídnyj)
  • → Spanish: sólido
  • → Sicilian: sòlitu

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.

	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:
  • Portuguese: soldo
  • Spanish: sueldo
• Italo-Romance:
  • Dalmatian: suald (“cent”)
  • Italian: soldo (“cent”)
    • → English: soldo
    • → Middle French: solde, soulde (“balance”)
      • French: solde (“pay”)
      • → English: sold
    • → Neapolitan: sordo
    • →? Sicilian: sordu
• Òc:
  • Catalan: sou
  • Occitan: sòu
• Oïl:
  • Old French: solt
    • French: sou, sol
      • → English: sou
    • → English: sol
    • → Middle High German: solt
      • German: Sold
        • → Czech: žold
        • → Hungarian: zsold
        • → Polish: żołd
• Early borrowings:
  • → Proto-Brythonic: *solt
    • Old Breton: solt
      • Breton: saout (“livestock”)
    • Old Cornish: sols
      • Cornish: zowlz
    • Old Welsh: swllt (“shilling”)
      • Welsh: swllt
• Later borrowings:
  • → English: solidus
  • → Portuguese: sólido
  • → Romanian: solid
  • → Spanish: sólido

Further reading

• “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^[1], 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, volumes 12: Sk–š, page 49
• Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1911) “sŏlĭdus”, in Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch (in German), page 608

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

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