equidem

Pronunciation

• Classical: [ˈɛ.kʷɪ.dẽː]^[1]
• Ecclesiastical: [ˈɛː.kʷi.dem]^[1]

Forms

equidem (not comparable)^[1]

Etymology

The second part is quidem (“indeed”).^[2][1] The first is uncertain: the OLD thinks it probably not ego (“I”), despite the way the word is used, while Wiktionary derives it from that pronoun.^[2][1] L&S took it as the interjection ⟨ē⟩, as in edepol.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Plautus,^[4] who has equidem Sōsia Amphitruōnis sum, “I, for my part, am Sosia, Amphitryon's slave”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Equidem mostly goes with the first person, “I for my part, personally” (Cicero: equidem dīcam ex animō … quod sentiō, “for my part I will say frankly what I think”, equidem excrucior, “I am in torment”).^[2][1] It is also simply emphatic, “indeed, in truth”, with other persons (Sallust: vānum equidem hoc cōnsilium est, “this plan is indeed futile”).^[2][3][1]

Church Latin glosses it “truly, indeed, certainly”.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus: equidem Sōsia Amphitruōnis sum.^[2][4]
• 190–159 BC – Terence: equidem mīror.^[2][4]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero: equidem dīcam ex animō.^[2][4]
• 86–34 BC – Sallust uses it without the first person.^[2][4]

Meanings

Particle

1. I for my part, personally, as far as I am concerned.^[2][1]
2. indeed, truly, certainly.^[2][3][1][5]

Related words

• quidem
• ego

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d e 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