inquies

Forms

inquiēs (genitive inquiētis); third-declension one-termination adjective^[1] As a noun it is feminine, inquiēs, inquiētis, “restlessness”.^[2][3] Apuleius has the ablative inquiētī.^[3]

Etymology

It is from Latin in- (“not”) + quiēs (“rest”);^[2][4] for the adjective the OLD compares inquiētus (“restless”).^[2] De Vaan traces quiēs to Proto-Italic *kʷiē-ti- and Proto-Indo-European *kʷieh₁-ti- (“rest, peace”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates the adjective from Sallust,^[4] whose Histories describe someone as restless, trying now this, now that: inquies, haec atque illa temptans.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The adjective describes a restless, unsettled or impatient character:^[2] Sallust speaks of a restless and untamed disposition, Velleius of a restless and rash man, and Tacitus of persons restless in mind.^[3][6] Tacitus also uses it of circumstances full of tumult, a night restless in different quarters.^[2] The noun, “restlessness”, is rarer: Pliny the Elder has a restlessness at night, Gellius the restlessness of sleepless nights, and Tertullian the restlessness of a child in the womb.^[3]

Timeline

• 86–34 BC – Sallust, of a restless character.^[2][4]
• c. 20 BC–30 AD – Velleius Paterculus, of a restless and rash man.^[3][6][4]
• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder has the noun, of restlessness at night.^[3][4]
• 98–115 AD – Tacitus, of a night full of unrest.^[2][4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of persons: restless in character, unsettled, impatient.^[2][3][1]
2. Of circumstances: full of tumult or unrest.^[2]

Noun

1. Restlessness, unquietness, agitation.^[2][3][1]

Related words

• quiēs
• inquiētus
• requiēs

References

1. ^ a b c d e 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 d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
6. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften