Where does “sextant” come from?

Sextant comes from Latin sextans, derived from Latin sex, which traces back to Proto-Indo-European swéḱs, meaning six.

sextant (English): A navigational device for deriving angular...

Definitions

  1. A navigational device for deriving angular...

Ancestry of “sextant”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Latinsextānsa sixth
2Latinsexsix; 6
3Proto-Italicsekssix
4Proto-Indo-Europeanswéḱssix

Words derived from “sextant”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European swéḱs →Every word from Proto-Italic seks →Every word from Latin sex →