adaeque

Forms

adaequē (not comparable)^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin ad- + aequē (“equally”),^[2][3][4] built on the adverb of aequus (“level, equal”), for which de Vaan finds no convincing etymology.^[5] Wiktionary suggests instead that it may be a back-formation from adaequō (“to make equal”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus has it first,^[5][6] always with a negative such as nēmō, numquam or neque, which gives the clause a comparative sense:^[7] numquam ecastor ūllō diē rīsī adaequē “by Castor, I never laughed so much on any day”.^[2][8]

Semantic evolution

It is mostly a word of early and late Latin;^[7] Lewis and Short note that Cicero never uses it.^[7] With Plautus it can take an ablative of comparison and even a comparative adjective,^[7][2] and it can be followed by atque or ut “as”.^[2][8] A passage of Livy has it in some editions, but Madvig read adaequārī there.^[7]

The TLL notes that it is not found in affirmative clauses before Apuleius and the grammarian Juba.^[3] Apuleius uses it often, of things equal to others and in the sense “also, likewise”;^[2][8] Fronto, Ambrosiaster, Hilary of Poitiers and the Theodosian Code also have it.^[2][3][7]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it in negative comparisons.^[2][7][6]
• 100–170 AD – Fronto uses it of Trajan's popularity.^[2][6]
• c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius uses it in affirmative clauses and in the sense “also”.^[2][3][6]
• 3rd third of the 4th century AD – Ambrosiaster uses it of appointing a bishop and a deacon alike.^[3][6]

Meanings

Adverb

1. Equally, to the same extent, as, so; with Plautus mostly after a negative.^[2][7]
2. Also, likewise.^[2][1]

Related words

• aequē
• adaequō

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
6. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b c Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier