What does "vigesimal" mean?
A twentieth part.
Vigesimal
/vɪˈd͡ʒɛsɪm(ə)l/ adj, noun
adj, noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A twentieth part.
- Grammar: vigesimal is listed as adj, noun.
- Nearest alternatives: vicenarious, vicenary, vicesimal, vigenary.
- Usage evidence: It has long been well known that the Mexican numeration is vigesimal, and, as far as I know, there is no proof that it was ever used in the calculation of long reaches of time.
How to use "vigesimal"
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- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "vigesimal" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
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- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "vigesimal" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
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Compare nearby meanings
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Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "vigesimal" is acting as adj, noun in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
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3. Confirm with context
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Final meaning check
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Definitions
Noun
- 1 A twentieth part.
"If the years of the incomplete century be divided into twenties, and the excess of twenties resolved into fours, the Dominical Letter will advance three places for every twenty, two places for every four, and six places for every unit of the still outstanding remainder. Hence the Sunday Letter will be found by taking the sum of four numbers, which may be called the centurial, the vigesimal, the quaternial, and the residual."
- 2 “vigesimal”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
- 3 “vigesimal”, in OED Online , Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.
- 4 “vigesimal”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016, →ISBN.
Adjective
- 1 Occurring in intervals of twenty. not-comparable
"For indeed, looking at the activity of the historic Pen and Press through this last half-century, and what bulk of History it yields for that period alone, and how it is henceforth like to increase in decimal or vigesimal geometric progression,—one might feel as if a day were not distant, when perceiving that the whole Earth would not now contain those writings of what was done in the Earth, the human memory must needs sink confounded, and cease remembering!— […]"
- 2 To the base twenty. not-comparable
"To go on by hands and feet to 20, and thence to reckon by twenties, is a vigesimal notation. Now though in the larger proportion of known languages, no distinct mention of fingers and toes, hands and feet, is observable in the numerals themselves, yet the very schemes of quinary, decimal and vigesimal notation remain to vouch for such hand-and-foot counting having been the original method on which they were founded."
Adjective
- 1 relating to or based on the number twenty wordnet
Example
"It has long been well known that the Mexican numeration is vigesimal, and, as far as I know, there is no proof that it was ever used in the calculation of long reaches of time."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "vigesimal"?
Common synonyms include: vicenarious, vicenary, vicesimal, vigenary.
How do you use "vigesimal" in a sentence?
It has long been well known that the Mexican numeration is vigesimal, and, as far as I know, there is no proof that it was ever used in the calculation of long reaches of time.
How do you pronounce "vigesimal"?
Pronounced /vɪˈd͡ʒɛsɪm(ə)l/.
Etymology
From Latin vīgēsimus (“twentieth”), variant of Latin vīcēsimus (“twentieth”), from Latin vīgintī (“twenty”), (from *vīcēnssos, from Proto-Indo-European *wi(h₁)ḱm̥ttós, with the -imus ending of decimus (“tenth”)) + -al (suffix forming an adjective). Compare Latin vīgintī (“twenty”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁wih₁ḱm̥ti, from *dwi(h₁)dḱm̥ti(h₁), *dwi(h₁)dḱm̥ti (“two tens; two decades”).