• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer
Zippy Facts Logo

Zippy Facts

Interesting Random Facts

  • Animals
  • Culture
  • Firsts
  • Food
  • Geography
  • Health
  • History
  • Inventions
  • Language
  • Mythology
  • Odds
  • People
  • Religion
  • Science
  • Space
  • Universe
  • World
You are here: Home / Language / Where does the word “sesquipedalian” come from and What does sesquipedalian mean?

Where does the word “sesquipedalian” come from and What does sesquipedalian mean?

February 23, 2020 by Karen Hill

It was the Roman poet Horace who coined the very long adjective “sesquipedalian” that is used to define a word that is very long.

It appears in line 97 of one of the last of his works, published shortly before his death in 8 B.C., the Epistle to the Pisos, better known as Ars Poetica (The Poetic Art):

Et tragicus plerumque dolex sermone pedestri
Telephus et Peleus, cum pauper et excul, uterque
Projicit ampullas, et sesquipedalia verba,
Si curat cor spectantis tetigisse querela

We are indebted to Miss Dorothy Gardner for assistance with the translation, of which the following is a free rendition into verse:

By use of ponderous speech to tell each tragic part
Did Telephus, the pauper, and Peleus, outcast,
Attempt to touch with grief the watcher’s kindred heart,
Emitting yard-long words and spouting forth bombast.

Literally, sesquipedalian means “a-foot-and-a-half long,” from sesqui-, “one-and-one-half,” and pedalis, “foot-long,” from pes, “a foot.” Figuratively, and it is in this sense that Horace coined it, the word is entirely equivalent to our yard-long, block-long, mile-long, etc., which we use to express an indeterminate length that is substantially more than is necessary, or than is expected. Miss Gardner also points out to me that the Greeks anticipated us here, too, with terms such as amaxiaia remata, “words large enough for a wagon.”

Related Facts

  • History of Rulers
  • Where does the word “bombast” come from and What does bombast mean?
  • The History of the Dictionary
  • Who Invented the Yard and How Did the Unit of Measurement Originate?
  • Which Explorers First Explored the Continents of the World?
  • What was the European Age of Exploration?

Filed Under: Language

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

Previous Post: « Where does the word “pennyroyal” originate and What does pennyroyal mean?
Next Post: Where does the word “thimblerig” come from and What does thimblerig mean? »

Footer

Follow

  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • GitHub
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Medium
  • Pinterest
  • StumbleUpon
  • Tumblr
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Categories

Accomplishments Animals Culture Firsts Food Geography Health History Inventions Language Mythology Odds People Religion Science Space Universe World Your Body

About

Zippy Facts empowers the world by serving educational content that is accessible to everyone.

A tribute to growing up, zippyfacts.com showcases interesting and unusual facts about the world.

Our mission is to use technology to facilitate knowledge transfer and sharing.

Copyright © 2020 Zippy Facts

  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy