*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of sext

From Latin sexta (“sixth; sixth hour”). Doublet of siesta.

2 source sectionsExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗
In this entry · 2 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Source etymology 1

Original entry ↗
noun

Noon, reckoned as the sixth hour of daylight. · The service appointed for this hour. · A sixth: an interval of six diatonic degrees. · An organ stop of two ranks of pipes an interval of a sixth apart.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

From Latin sexta (“sixth; sixth hour”). Doublet of siesta.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "la",
        "3": "sexta",
        "4": "",
        "5": "sixth; sixth hour"
      },
      "expansion": "Latin sexta (“sixth; sixth hour”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "doublet",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "siesta"
      },
      "expansion": "Doublet of siesta"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "sexta",
      "sexta#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "sixth",
      "sixth"
    ],
    [
      "sixth",
      "sixth"
    ],
    [
      "hour",
      "hour"
    ],
    [
      "siesta",
      "siesta#English"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "Noon, reckoned as the sixth hour of daylight.",
        "The service appointed for this hour.",
        "A sixth: an interval of six diatonic degrees.",
        "An organ stop of two ranks of pipes an interval of a sixth apart."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "historical",
        "obsolete"
      ],
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}

Source etymology 2

Original entry ↗
verb

To send a sext.

noun

An electronic message, especially one sent by cell phone, involving sexual language or images.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Blend of sex + text. As a verb, a back-formation from earlier sexting, formed from the noun.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

  • Blend componentsexen
  • Blend componenttexten
Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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    {
      "name": "blend",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "sex",
        "3": "text"
      },
      "expansion": "Blend of sex + text"
    },
    {
      "name": "glossary",
      "args": {
        "1": "back-formation"
      },
      "expansion": "back-formation"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "sex",
      "sex#English"
    ],
    [
      "text",
      "text#English"
    ],
    [
      "sexting",
      "sexting#English"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "verb",
      "glosses": [
        "To send a sext."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "intransitive",
        "transitive"
      ],
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      "glosses": [
        "An electronic message, especially one sent by cell phone, involving sexual language or images."
      ],
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Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for sext →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger
Machine-source provenance
Source SHA-256
5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run
73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID
w-c2V4dA