Rom. Antiq. [L., f. quindecim fifteen + vir man.] A member of a body, commission, etc., of fifteen men; esp. one of the priests who had charge of the Sibylline books.
1601. Holland, Pliny, I. 177. One of the fifteen Quindecemvirs deputed for diuision of lands among the souldiers.
1781. Gibbon, Decl. & F., xxviii. III. 70. Fifteen keepers of the Sybilline books (their name of Quindecemvirs was derived from their number).
Hence Quindecemvirate, ‘the body of fifteen priests and their office’ (Craig, 1848).
