Word.ws English Dictionary

sextans

sextans noun: a Roman coin worth one sixth of an as.

sextans: a Roman coin worth one sixth of an as
Image: CNG, CC BY-SA 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

sextans (plural sextantes)

  1. (Ancient-Rome) A Roman coin worth one sixth of an as.

Proper noun capitalized: Sextans

Sextans

  1. A dim spring constellation of the northern sky, said to resemble a sextant. It lies south of the constellation of Leo.

Forms of sextans

pluralsextantes

Origin of sextans

From Latin sextāns, from sex (“six”).

Named by the astronomer Johannes Hevelius in 1690. From Latin sextans, a "sextant" (nautical measuring implement)

Words formed from sextans

  • Sextantis

Questions about sextans

What does sextans mean?
Sextans means a Roman coin worth one sixth of an as.
What part of speech is sextans?
Sextans can be a noun or a proper noun.
What is the plural of sextans?
The plural of sextans is sextantes.

Words near sextans in the dictionary

  1. sextagenarians
  2. sextain
  3. sextains
  4. sextal
  5. sextan
  6. sextans
  7. sextant
  8. sextantal
  9. sextantes
  10. sextants
  11. sextape

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: sextans (page history and authors); Sextans (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this entry: “sextans.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sextans. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.