aliquamdiu

Forms

aliquamdiū (not comparable)^[1][2] Also spelled aliquandiū.^[1][3] It is sometimes written separately.^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin aliquam + diū (“for a long time”).^[1][2][4] The TLL divides it instead as ali- with quamdiū (“how long”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler and the TLL date it from Cicero, whose speeches against Verres have it.^[4][3]

Semantic evolution

It means for some time, for a considerable time.^[1][2] Pomponius Mela transfers it from time to space, from a traveller's point of view: a cave is clear for a good way, and the Rhône separates the Gauls for a considerable distance.^[1] Manuscripts often spell it aliquandiū, as the palimpsest of Fronto and almost always the Memmianus of Suetonius, while a bronze edict of Claudius has aliquamdiū.^[3] Church Latin glosses it for a little while.^[5]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero.^[3][4]
• 1st century AD – Pomponius Mela of distance.^[1]

Meanings

Adverb

1. For some time, for a considerable time, for a while.^[1][2][5]
2. For a considerable distance.^[1][2]

Related words

• aliquis
• diū

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
2. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
3. ^ a b c d e Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson