hemina

See also: Hemina

English

Etymology

From Latin hemina (“half-sextarius”), from Ancient Greek, from ἡμι- (hēmi-, “hemi-: half”) + -ίνα (-ína, “-ina: forming nouns”). As a Spanish unit, via Spanish hemina.

Noun

hemina (plural heminas or heminae)

1. (historical) A Roman unit of liquid measure reckoned as the volume of ⁵⁄₆ Roman pound of wine and equivalent to about 0.27 L although differing slightly over time, used in English pharmacy into the 17th century.
   • 1727, John Arbuthnot, Tables of Ancient Coins, Weights and Measures. Explain'd and exemplify'd in several dissertations:

     ...an Æginean Hemina of Hydromel ...

2. (historical) A traditional Spanish unit of dry measure equivalent to about 23 L, used particularly in Leon.
3. (historical) A traditional Spanish unit of land area, varying in size depending on the land's quality and used particularly in Leon.

Synonyms

• cotyle, half-sextarius, half-pint (Roman contexts)

Coordinate terms

• (Roman unit of measure): lingula (¹⁄₂₄ hemina), cyathus (¹⁄₆ hemina), acetabulum (¹⁄₄ hemina), quartarius (¹⁄₂ hemina), sextarius (2 heminas), congius (12 heminas), urna (48 heminas), amphora (96 heminas), culeus (1920 heminas)
• (Spanish unit of volume): cuartillo (¹⁄₂₀ hemina), medio (¹⁄₁₀ hemina), celemin (¹⁄₅ hemina), cuartilla (³⁄₅ hemina), cuarto (1+¹⁄₅ heminas), fanega (2+²⁄₅ heminas), saco (4+⁴⁄₅ heminas), carga (9+³⁄₅ heminas)

References

• “hemina”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• Hai-men, Haimen, Heiman, haemin

Latin

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ἡμίνα (hēmína, “a half”), from ἡμι- (hēmi-, “hemi-: half”) + -ίνα (-ína, “-ina: forming nouns”).

Noun

hēmīna f (genitive hēmīnae); first declension

1. (historical) hemina, a Roman unit of liquid measure equivalent to about 0.27 L

Declension

First-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	hēmīna	hēmīnae
genitive	hēmīnae	hēmīnārum
dative	hēmīnae	hēmīnīs
accusative	hēmīnam	hēmīnās
ablative	hēmīnā	hēmīnīs
vocative	hēmīna	hēmīnae

Synonyms

• cotyla

Coordinate terms

• lingula (¹⁄₂₄ hemina), cyathus (¹⁄₆ hemina), acetabulum (¹⁄₄ hemina), quartarius (¹⁄₂ hemina), sextarius (2 heminae), congius (12 heminae) urna (48 heminae), amphora (96 heminae), culeus (1,920 heminae)

Descendants

• → English: hemina
• → Spanish: hemina

References

• “hemina”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• hemina in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• “hemina”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “hemina”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin hemina (“half-sextarius”), from Ancient Greek ἡμίνα (hēmína, “a half”), from ἡμι- (hēmi-, “hemi-: half”) + -ίνα (-ína, “-ina: forming nouns”).

Noun

hemina f (plural heminas)

1. (historical) hemina, half-sextarius (a Roman unit of liquid measure equivalent to about 0.27 L later used in medieval Spanish taxation)
2. (historical) hemina (a traditional Leonese unit of dry measure equivalent to about 23 L)
3. (historical) hemina (a traditional Leonese unit of land area of variable size depending on its quality)

Coordinate terms

• (Spanish unit of volume): cuartillo (¹⁄₂₀ hemina), medio (¹⁄₁₀ hemina), celemín (¹⁄₅ hemina), cuartilla (³⁄₅ hemina), cuarto (1+¹⁄₅ heminas), fanega (2+²⁄₅ heminas), saco (4+⁴⁄₅ heminas), carga (9+³⁄₅ heminas)

Descendants

• English: hemina

Further reading

• “hemina”, in Diccionario de la lengua española (in Spanish), online version 23.7, Royal Spanish Academy, 2023 November 28