sesterce

American  

[ses-turs] / ˈsɛs tɜrs /

noun

1. a silver coin of ancient Rome, the quarter of a denarius, equal to 2½ asses: introduced in the 3rd century b.c.

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sesterce British  

/ sɛˈstɜːtɪəs, ˈsɛstɛːs /

noun

1. a silver or, later, bronze coin of ancient Rome worth a quarter of a denarius

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Etymology

Origin of sesterce

1590–1600; < Latin sēstertius, equivalent to sēs- half-unit ( see sesqui-) + tertius third (i.e., 2 units and half a 3rd one equal 2½ asses)

Example Sentences

"Hei!" groaned Curio, with a lugubrious whisper, "to think of it, I have never a sesterce left that I can call my own, to stake on the struggle!"

From A Friend of Caesar A Tale of the Fall of the Roman Republic. Time, 50-47 B.C. by Davis, William Stearns

And the fourth part of it, consisting of two asses and half of a third, they called "sesterce."

From The Ten Books on Architecture by Vitruvius Pollio

Never a sesterce will I get out of him!

From A Friend of Caesar A Tale of the Fall of the Roman Republic. Time, 50-47 B.C. by Davis, William Stearns

I'll keep order and I will not waste a sesterce.

From The Unwilling Vestal by White, Edward Lucas

His domestic economy was strict and simple, the accounts being kept to a sesterce.

From Caesar: a Sketch by Froude, James Anthony