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aliquis

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word aliquis

Confidence
Established
Formation
Compound
First attested
c. 250–184 BC, Plautus
Ultimate origin
Latin (alius,quis)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin quis
French quoi
French pourquoi
Latin aliquis
Latin quisquam
Latin quisque

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈa.lɪ.kʷɪs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈaː.li.kʷis][1]

Forms

aliquis or aliquī (feminine aliqua, neuter aliquid); indefinite pronoun[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin ali- + quis, from the stem of alius (“other”) and the indefinite quis (“anyone”).[2][1][3] De Vaan explains ⟨ali-⟩ as either cut from ⟨alius⟩ or a rapid-speech form of ⟨*alie-quis⟩.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Plautus on;[4][5] the OLD's first citation is from Ennius, who says that “someone” once judged a famous contest among three goddesses.[2]

Semantic evolution

Aliquis means “someone, anyone” and in the neuter aliquid “something”; in the plural “some, a few”.[2][6] It can stress that there is someone rather than no one, point to a particular but unnamed person, mean “somebody of importance” (sē aliquem putat “he thinks he is somebody”), and “someone else”.[2] Est aliquid with an infinitive means “it is something to …”.[2]

It lives on in Spanish alguien and algo.[3]

Timeline

  • 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it of an unnamed judge.[2][5]
  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus: opperiāmur dum exeat aliquis “let's wait for someone to come out”.[2][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero asks his friend to want him to be aliquem, somebody.[2][5]

Meanings

Pronoun

  1. someone, anyone;[2][6] (neuter aliquid) something, anything.[2][6]
  2. (plural) Some, a few.[2]
  3. A certain person (unnamed).[2]
  4. Somebody of importance; something worth while.[2]
  5. Someone else.[2][1]
  6. (adjective) Some, any.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ 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
  5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
Cite this entry

“Aliquis.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/aliquis. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·