qualunque

Forms

qualunque (invariable)^[1] Old forms include qualunqua (12th–13th century), Pisan and Old Lombard qualumca, Old Perugian qualunqua with the plural qualunqui, Old Pistoian qualunco and Old Palermitan qualunquatu (1343).^[2][3][4] Qualunche is an old variant.^[5][6]

Etymology

It is formed in from Italian quale + -unque, on the model of Latin quāliscumque (“of whatever kind”).^[4][7][1] Nocentini describes it as a Romance formation in which the Latin suffix -cumque (“-ever”) of the model was blended with umquam (“ever”).^[3] DEI likewise speaks of the second element of the Latin pronoun being replaced by the adverb, and compares quantunque.^[2] French quelconque is a similar formation.^[3][1]

Latin quāliscumque is itself formed from quālis (“of what kind”) and the indefinite ending, from cumque (“whenever, however”).^[8][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

GRADIT and the Devoto–Oli date the old form qualunqua to the second half of the 12th century (GRADIT: 1171).^[4][7][3] DELI's first record of the adjective is the Breve di Montieri (1219), a Tuscan statute, in the sense “one or another, without distinction”.^[9]

Semantic evolution

In Old Italian qualunque could also stand alone as a pronoun meaning “whoever”, as in Dante's “batte col remo qualunque s'adagia” (he strikes with his oar whoever lingers); this use is now archaic.^[4][7][6] Phrases such as qualunque volta and qualunque otta “every time that” are also obsolete.^[10][11] The word could once be plural, as in Boccaccio's “O qualunque cavalieri”, but the modern language treats it as invariable and uses it in the singular.^[12][10]

Placed after a noun it took on a slighting sense, “ordinary, of no account”.^[4][5] The phrase l'uomo qualunque “the man in the street” became the title of Guglielmo Giannini's newspaper L'Uomo Qualunque, which gave its name to a political movement founded in 1944;^[3] qualunquismo and qualunquista (1945), come from it.^[3] A recent southern and slang use, la qualunque “anything at all”, leaves out the noun.^[7]

Timeline

• 1171 – GRADIT's date for the old form qualunqua.^[4]
• 1219 – Qualunque appears in the Breve di Montieri.^[9]
• 1343 – Old Palermitan qualunquatu is recorded.^[2]
• 1945 – Qualunquismo and qualunquista are recorded.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. any, whichever, one or another without distinction (singular, before the noun): Passa pure a qualunque ora.^{[4][7][5][10]}
2. Every, any whatever (emphatic): Sarebbe pronta a qualunque sacrificio per i figli.^[7][10][6]
3. After the noun, ordinary, commonplace, of no special quality: Non è un cuoco qualunque.^{[4][7][5][10]}
4. Relative, introducing a clause with the subjunctive: whatever, whichever: Qualunque cosa tu decida, ti aiuterò.^{[4][7][5][10]}

Pronoun

1. (archaic) Whoever.^[4][6][11]

Word family

• qualunquismo
• qualunquista
• qualunquistico

Related words

• quale
• qualsiasi
• chiunque
• quantunque
• comunque
• dovunque
• Latin quāliscumque
• French quelconque

Usage notes

Qualunque and qualsiasi are synonyms.^[4][5] Fixed phrases include a qualunque costo “at any cost” and l'uomo qualunque “the average man”.^[4][6] In popular and older use the relative clause may have the indicative instead of the subjunctive.^[4][10]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3170
3. ^ a b c d e f g Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b c d e f Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
6. ^ a b c d e Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
8. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
10. ^ a b c d e f g Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
11. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
12. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET