Etymologically

interquiesco

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 20 October 2026 at 15:35. This address is a permanent link to this version.

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ɪn.tɛr.kʷiˈeːs.koː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [in.ter.kʷiˈɛs.ko][1]

Forms

interquiēscō (present infinitive interquiēscere, perfect active interquiēvī); third conjugation, no supine stem[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin inter- + quiēscō (“to rest”).[2][3][1] De Vaan explains quiēscō as a present built on the noun quiēs (“rest”), on the model of verbs such as gnōscō.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest example is in Cato's De agri cultura, in a remedy: bibe, interquiesce, “drink, then rest a while”, before the next dose.[2][3][5]

Semantic evolution

Cicero uses it of pausing in speech: cum haec dixissem et paulum interquievissem, “when I had said this and paused a little”.[2][6] Seneca applies it to pain that lets up for a time, and Pliny the Younger to lawsuits.[2][6]

Timeline

  • 234–149 BC – Cato uses it of resting between doses.[2][3][7]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of a pause in speaking.[2][7]
  • 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it of pain that eases.[2][7]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To rest between periods of activity, rest a while.[2][6]
  2. To pause, cease for a time (in speaking; of pain, activities).[2][6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  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. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  6. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de