SESQUIPEDIA

A site for advanced English language learners, language teachers, or anyone else fascinated by, or curious about, the workings of the English language.

I love the prefix sesqui-. After the world of technology had forced me to get used to prefixes meaning "a million" (mega-), "a billion" (giga-) and "a trillion" (tera-), it was delightfully refreshing to discover the prefix sesqui-, which means "one-and-a-half".

So a sesquicentenary commemorates or celebrates 150 years, and sesquipedal means "measuring a foot and a half". From this, we get the word sesquipedalian, a word used to describe someone fond of using long and obscure words like... sesquipedalian.

If you have any queries or thoughts about anything you read here, I'd love to hear from you.

Happy reading!

Robert L Marcus