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exquiro

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word exquiro

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 250–184 BC, Plautus
Ultimate origin
Proto-Italic (*kʷaise/o-)

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ɛkˈskʷiː.roː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ekˈskʷiː.ro][1]

Forms

exquīrō (present infinitive exquīrere, perfect active exquīsīvī, supine exquīsītum); third conjugation[1] Plautus and Varro also have exquaerō.[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from ex- and quaerō (“to seek”).[2][1] De Vaan traces ⟨quaerō⟩ to Proto-Italic *kʷaise/o-, perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *kʷeh₂-i- (“to acquire”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's first example is Plautus' Bacchides, of someone who “inquires into the fates of Troy”.[2]

Semantic evolution

It is to ask about or inquire into something, and pretium exquīrere is to work out a price, as in Cicero's Verrines.[2] It is to look for or seek, as Cicero's “if you ask my advice”, to search or examine, as Pliny's greed that explores the inside of the earth, and to find out or discover.[2][3]

Church Latin glosses it “seek, inquire diligently, seek after”.[5] Its participle exquīsītus became an adjective “carefully sought out, choice”.[1]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of inquiring into fates.[2][6]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of seeking advice and working out a price.[2][6]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder of exploring the earth.[2][6]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To ask about, inquire into, pretium exquīrere, to work out a price.[2][1]
  2. To look for, seek; to search, examine.[2][1][5]
  3. To find out, discover.[2]

Word family

  • exquīsītim
  • exquisitiō
  • exquīsītor
  • exquīsītus

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g 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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ 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 Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  6. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
Cite this entry

“Exquiro.” Etymologically, 19 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/exquiro. Accessed 19 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·