nummus

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin nummus. Doublet of luma.

Noun

nummus (plural nummi)

1. (historical) Any of a range of low-value copper coins issued by the Roman and Byzantine empires during Late Antiquity.

Latin

nummus aureus.

Alternative forms

• nūmus

Etymology

From νοῦμμος (noûmmos), Doric version of Ancient Greek νόμος (nómos). Compare with numerus, from the same root.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈnum.mus/, [ˈnʊmːʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈnum.mus/, [ˈnumːus]

Noun

nummus m (genitive nummī); second declension

1. a coin, piece of money

Usage notes

Some works ascribe this name to a particular Roman coin, such as the sesterce, but it is unclear which coin was ever known by this name in Latin.

Declension

• The genitive plural is normally nummum instead of the analogically expected nummōrum, which is also found.

Second-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	nummus	nummī
Genitive	nummī	nummum nummōrum
Dative	nummō	nummīs
Accusative	nummum	nummōs
Ablative	nummō	nummīs
Vocative	numme	nummī

Derived terms

• nummulus
• nummulāriolus
• nummulārius
• nummārius
• nummātus
• nummī adulterīnī

 

References

• “nummus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “nummus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• nummus 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)
• nummus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • bad money; base coin: nummi adulterini
    
  • the bank-rate varies: nummus iactatur (Off. 3. 20. 80)
    
  • to have no debts: in suis nummis versari (Verr. 4. 6. 11)
    
• “nummus”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “nummus”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin