sesquialterate en · ADJ
Pronunciation
- /sɛskwɪˈaltərət/
Etymology
From Latin sesquialter (“one and a half times”) + -ate (adjective-forming suffix), from sesqui- (“a half and a”) + alter (“another, a second”).
Meanings
-
(archaic, not-comparable) In a ratio of 3 to 2 or 1½ times to 1.
[…]the ratio of 3 to 2, which is sesquialter, forms the symphony diapente[…]
1818, Iamblichus, translated by Thomas Taylor, Life of Pythagoras, page 328:People ignorant of geometry did not know the sesquialterate ratio of the sphere, cylinder, and cone, and therefor no man could know it[…]
1859, Frances Power Cobbe, An Essay on Intuitive Morals: Being an Attempt to Popularize Ethical Science, page 84:from Kepler's Rule of the periodical times of the Planets being in a sesquialterate proportion of their distances from the centers of their orbs I deduced […]
1888, Sir Isaac Newton, Portsmouth Collection of Books and Papers Written or Belonging to Sir Isaac Newton (page xviii)9 and 6 are in a sesquialterate ratio.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| sesqui-alterate | alternative | lexicographic |
Relateds
Synonyms
sesquialteran · sesquialter · sesquialteral · sescuple
Translations (3)
la sēsquialter (Translations) · la sestuplus (Translations) · fi puolitoistakertainen (Translations)