Etymologically
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alicunde

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Forms

alicunde (not comparable)[1] Cassiodorus records a vulgar spelling aliquonde.[2]

Etymology

It is from Latin *ali- + unde (“from where”), the first element being the one in aliquis.[3][4][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Plautus on,[4] who has puellam alicunde ut reperirem sibi, “that I should find him a girl from somewhere”.[3][4]

Semantic evolution

It means “from somewhere” of place, as Terence's venit meditatus alicunde ex solo loco, “he has come having rehearsed it somewhere in a lonely place”.[5][6] It is also used of persons and things as a source: Plautus and Terence speak of borrowing from someone or other and of scraping money together from somewhere, and Cicero of seeking arguments from some outside source.[5][3][6] The TLL notes that it does not occur between Cicero and Tertullian.[4]

Medieval writers kept it: Bede has si forte alicunde quid auxilii … adveniret, “if by chance some help should come from somewhere”.[7][8]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of finding a girl from somewhere.[3][9]
  • 190–159 BC – Terence uses it of place and of borrowing.[5][9]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of sources of information and arguments.[3][9]
  • first third of the 8th century AD – Bede uses it of help coming from somewhere.[7][9]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. From some place or other, from somewhere.[3][5]
  2. From some source or other; from someone or other.[3][6]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c d Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  7. ^ a b Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  8. ^ Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
  9. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de