Etymologically
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alicubi

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [aˈlɪ.kʊ.bɪ][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [aˈliː.ku.bi][1]

Forms

alicubī̆ (not comparable)[1] According to Cassiodorus it was earlier written aliquobi.[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin ali- (“some, other”) + ubī (“where”).[4][1] Wiktionary takes the second part as cubī, the original form of the adverb, built on the interrogative stem Proto-Indo-European *kʷo-.[1] De Vaan thinks the stem ⟨ali-⟩, also seen in aliquis (“someone”), may be shortened from alius (“other”) or be an allegro form.[5] For the adverb meaning “where” he prefers Proto-Italic *kʷuþei, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷu-dʰi (“where”); its cognates include Oscan puf and Umbrian pufe (“where”).[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest quotation is from Plautus, alicubi apstrudam foris, “I shall hide it somewhere outside”;[4][6] de Vaan dates it from Terence in his entry for alius, but from Plautus in his entry for ubī.[5]

Semantic evolution

It means somewhere or anywhere: Terence has utinam hic prope adesset alicubi, “if only he were somewhere near here”, and Cicero uses it in his letters and with a further place name, hic alicubi in Crustumino.[4][2] Lewis and Short call it very rare.[2] Quintilian and Suetonius use it of places in a writer's works, “here and there”, and Mela, Petronius and Pliny the Elder in the sense “elsewhere”.[4] Apuleius pairs it with alibī, “in one place … in another”, and Seneca repeats it of occasions, “at one time … at another”.[4][2]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of hiding something somewhere.[4][6]
  • 190–159 BC – Terence has hic prope alicubi.[4][5][6]
  • 43/44 AD – Mela uses it in the sense “elsewhere”.[4][6]
  • c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius has alicubi … alibi.[4][6]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. Somewhere, anywhere, in some place.[4][2][7]
  2. Here and there in a writer's works, occasionally.[4][7]
  3. Elsewhere, in some other place.[4]
  4. alicubi … alibi or repeated alicubi … alicubi: in one place … in another; at one time … at another.[4][2][7]

Usage notes

Priscian distinguishes it from usquam: alicubi is used absolutely, of one particular place (alicubi fuimus), while usquam refers to all places.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c d 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 Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier