Sexagesimal

//ˌsɛk.səˈdʒɛ.sɪ.məl// adj, noun

adj, noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A fraction involving division by 60; a sixtieth part of something.

    "Decimals are actually less convenient than sexagesimals for working with most common fractions."

  2. 2
    A base-60 number.

    "Babylonian mathematics was computed in sexagesimals."

Adjective
  1. 1
    Of, related to, or based on the number sixty. not-comparable

    "The common English divisions of time, longitude, and latitude are all computed using sexagesimal arithmetic."

Adjective
  1. 1
    of or relating to or reckoning in sixtieths wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
base-60sexagenarysexagesm

Example

More examples

"A sexagesimal system was used in Babylonia. Therefore an hour has sixty minutes and a day has twenty-four hours."

Etymology

From Medieval Latin sexagesimalis, from sexāgēsimus (“sixtieth”) + -ālis (“-al”), from sexāgintā (“sixty”). Cognate with sexagenary and sexagenarian. Cf. sextal.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.