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The word sesquicentennial means "150th anniversary". When I first found this out, I thought about the prefix sesqui- and what it could mean.

My first thought was that it meant 6/4 = 1.5, because it seemed that the syllables matched up with "six" and "quart". After deciding that that must be right, I decided to check online. To my surprise, it appears that the prefix literally means "half and".

Was my first revelation a complete coincidence or is there actually a legitimate reason for what I noticed?

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6/4 would be a strange choice; the more common way of expressing that fraction is 3/2. – Dan Jun 10 '11 at 2:13
A strange choice, yes, but not entirely impossible. – Ben Alpert Jun 10 '11 at 2:32
Gamblers always refer to the relevant odds as 6/4 (pronounced six to four), not three to two. Old joke about the bookie teaching his baby to count : One, six-to-four, two... – TimLymington Jul 19 '11 at 11:09

2 Answers 2

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Well, according to Lewis and Short's "A Latin Dictionary", the derivation is actually:

sesquĭ (sesque ),

so I'd be inclined to think "coincidence". From such things are folk etymologies made.

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Actually, sesqui- is a contraction of semis and que

According to etymonline:

"pertaining to a century and a half," 1880, from L. sesqui- "one and a half" (from semis "a half" + -que "and") + centennial (q.v.). First recorded ref. is to Baltimore's. sesquipedalian


[from Latin, contraction of semi- + as as ² + -que and]

So, there aren't related, and I would say it is just coincidence.

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Yes, that's what I meant to say, sorry if that didn't come across. – Ben Alpert Jun 10 '11 at 3:38
Um, edited my answer to answer the question. :) – Thursagen Jun 10 '11 at 5:48

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