itaque

Forms

itaque (not comparable)^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin ita (“so, thus”) + -que (“and”), “and so”.^[2][1][3] Donatus distinguished ⟨ităque⟩ “and so, and in this way”, with a short middle syllable, from the conjunction “therefore”, with a long one.^[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Plautus on: ita doluī, itaque ego nunc doleō.^[4][5]

Semantic evolution

Itaque expresses a result or inference: “accordingly, therefore, and so”.^[2][4] It also resumes after a digression (“well, then”) and is sometimes used for plain ita “in that manner”.^[2]

Before Livy it usually stands first in its sentence; after Livy it is usually second.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – First found in Plautus.^[5]
• 59 BC–AD 17 – After Livy it moves to second place in the sentence.^[2][5]

Meanings

Conjunction

1. therefore, and so, accordingly.^[2][4]
2. Well, then (resuming).^[2]
3. And thus, and in this way.^[4][1]

Related words

• ita
• -que
• igitur
• ergō

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g 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 c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de