quibus

Forms

quibus m^[1][2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin quibus (“by means of which things”), the ablative plural of the relative pronoun quī (“who, which”).^[3][4][5][6] The Latin form was first used jokingly among people who spoke Latin, the clergy and the schools, with the meaning of the French phrase avoir de quoi “to have the means, to be well off”.^[3][5][1] The DMF classes it as slang, above all the slang of schoolboys.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Middle French dictionary records it about 1440–1442 in Martin Le Franc's Champion des dames, in the phrase baillent de quibus “hand over money”.^[7] The TLFi's first record is moyennant de quibus “in exchange for money” in the Cent Nouvelles Nouvelles (about 1462).^[3][4]

Semantic evolution

From the start the word meant “money”, especially in de quibus “some money”,^[7][3] and in late 15th-century Middle French it could also name a single coin, as in Molinet's gros quibus.^[7] Rey links it with the Middle French noun dequoi “money, fortune”, recorded at the same date.^[4]

Du quibus was still said for “money” in the 19th and early 20th centuries;^[4] the TLFi quotes it from Hugo, George Sand and Anatole France and labels it old-fashioned, familiar and humorous.^[3] Littré calls it a popular word for ready money, and avoir du quibus “to be rich”.^[8]

Timeline

• 1440–1442 – Martin Le Franc writes de quibus “money” in the Champion des dames.^[7]
• c. 1462 – Moyennant de quibus in the Cent Nouvelles Nouvelles.^[3][4]
• 1467–1506 – Molinet uses gros quibus for a coin.^[7]
• 16th century – Roger de Collerye rhymes des quibus with coquibus.^[8]
• 1862 – Hugo uses du quibus in Les Misérables.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. (dated, familiar, humorous) money, wealth: avoir du quibus, to be well off.^[3][2][8]

Related words

• quoi
• Latin quī

Usage notes

Littré quotes Le Duchat's explanation of the word as coming from the Latin de quibus fiunt omnia “from which all things are made”, and compares the French il a de quoi.^[8] Anglo-Norman law French had a separate use of the Latin word, quibus as the name of a class of writs of entry, recorded in 1388.^[9] In Littré's 14th-century quotation from the Ménagier, pastés norrois de quibus, the word names a dish.^[8]

References

1. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
2. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
4. ^ a b c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 1465a
7. ^ a b c d e f Dictionnaire du Moyen Français, version 2015 (DMF 2015), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/dmf
8. ^ a b c d e Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)