What does sexagesimal mean?
Sexagesimal describes a system of measurement or calculation based on sixty and its successive powers. Instead of grouping quantities in tens, as the decimal system does, a sexagesimal system groups them in sixtieths. This approach has a major practical advantage because 60 has many factors: multiplication and division by 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 12, 15, 20, and 30 all produce whole results. The best-known example is the measurement of time, in which seconds, minutes, and hours form successive sexagesimal divisions. The same system was used for Babylonian mathematics and astronomy, and its notation was inherited by Greek and later European scholars. Sexagesimal fractions also remain relevant in the measurement of angles, where one degree is divided into 60 minutes and each minute into 60 seconds. The word is principally technical and appears in discussions of historical calculation, positional notation, metrology, and astronomy.
adjectiveRelating to or expressed in a system based on the number sixty, especially one in which positions represent successive powers of sixty.
- Based on or expressed in the number sixty or successive powers of sixty.
- Denoting a division into sixtieths, especially a fraction or angle expressed in minutes and seconds.
"The Babylonian astronomers developed a sophisticated sexagesimal system for recording time and astronomical calculations."
"The tablet records the observation in a sexagesimal notation."
"Each side of the ancient instrument is marked with sexagesimal divisions."
Timekeeping runs in sexagesimal: 60 seconds make a minute, 60 minutes make an hour, and 24 hours make a day.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does sexagesimal come from?
Sexagesimal comes from Latin sexagesimus, meaning “sixtieth,” which was formed from sexaginta, “sixty.” The suffix -al was added in English to form the adjective. The related terms sexagenary and sexagenarian also derive from Latin forms based on the same root for sixty.
Related word forms
How sexagesimal is actually used
The term is chiefly used in historical, mathematical, astronomical, and metrological contexts. It is more technical than the everyday expression “base sixty.”
Easily confused with sexagesimal
Sexagesimal is based on sixty, whereas hexadecimal is based on sixteen.
Sexagesimal counting uses powers of sixty, while decimal counting uses powers of ten.