Etymograph

English

denarius

Denarius comes from Latin dēnārius ‘tenfold, denary’, and goes back to dēnus ‘ten each’.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdēnus1‘ten each’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdēnārius2‘tenfold, denary’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1966denarius2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin denarius
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English denarius
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1966, James Workman, The Mad Emperor: “Sorry, I thought you were Aurel. He owes me…”.

Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdēnusWiktionary, Latin denarius‘ten each’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdēnāriusWiktionary, English denarius‘tenfold, denary’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1966denariusWiktionary, English denarius. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1966, James Workman, The Mad Emperor: “Sorry, I thought you were Aurel. He owes me…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *déḱm̥ ‘ten’

century, ten, hundred, dick, cent, decade, sen, decimal, hectare, tenfold, deca, doyen, deni, 48 more

through Proto-Italic *dekəm ‘ten’

dean, dozen, 18 more

through Latin dēnus ‘ten each’

dinero, 7 more

through Latin dēnārius ‘tenfold, denary’

diner, den, denier, dwt, 9 more

Today it means

noun A small silver coin issued both during the Roman Republic and during the Roman Empire, equal to 10 asses or 4 sesterces. Roughly one day’s wage for a skilled worker.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “denarius”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin denarius. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Latin dēnus / denarius

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