unqua

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin unquam (“ever, at any time”).^{[2][3][4][5][1]} The Battaglia dictionary calls it a learned word.^[6] Körting lists it with Old Occitan onqa and Old French onque among the outcomes of the Latin adverb.^[7]

The Latin adverb is usually explained as cum with the indefinite particle -quam.^[8][9] Zingarelli explains the loss of the initial consonant as a way of avoiding the same sound twice.^[8] De Vaan derives it from Proto-Italic *kwum and the particle, the first part having replaced the inherited Proto-Indo-European *kʷom (“when”) on the model of ubī.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

Zingarelli dates the word before 1250, and GRADIT before 1294.^[8][2] Among the earliest texts the Battaglia dictionary quotes is a poem by Giacomo da Lentini, unqua non vegna a magio!, “may he never reach May!”, with the sense “never” in a negative clause.^[6]

Semantic evolution

In Old Italian the word meant “ever” and, mostly together with a negation, “never”; northern texts have the forms unca and uncana.^[6] Tommaseo quotes Dante, Petrarch and Boccaccio, Petrarch in Che per nostra salute unqua non viene and Boccaccio in the form unque.^[11][4] Tommaseo calls it a word of poetry, and Vincenzo Monti still wrote unqua un accento non uscì di tua bocca.^[11][5] D'Annunzio used unque for “wherever”.^[12]

Timeline

• Before 1250 – First record, according to Zingarelli.^[8]
• Before 1294 – Date of first record in GRADIT.^[2]

Meanings

Adverb

1. (archaic, poetic) never, not at any time; usually with a negation.^[2][3][5][6]
2. (archaic, poetic) ever, at any time.^[1][6]

Related words

• mai
• chiunque
• qualunque
• Latin umquam
• Old French onque

Usage notes

The variant unque is as old as unqua and is listed beside it.^[3][4][5] Dante's line Guarda s'alcun di noi unqua vedesti, “see whether you ever saw any of us”, is the example most dictionaries give.^[2][3][5]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
3. ^ a b c d Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
5. ^ a b c d e Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
6. ^ a b c d e Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 21, 557
7. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
8. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
9. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
11. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
12. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli