numquam

Forms

numquam (not comparable)^[1] The spelling nunquam is perhaps not pre-Augustan;^[2][3] numquam prevails before the Augustan age.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin ne- + umquam, “not ever”.^[2][1][4] De Vaan explains umquam as probably ⟨*kʷum⟩, a remodelled form of the accusative Proto-Indo-European *kʷom (“when”) (see cum), with the suffix ⟨-quam⟩.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Livius Andronicus on.^[4][5] Plautus writes mēquidem praesente numquam factumst, “it never happened while I was there”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Numquam means “never, at no time”, often with a limiting phrase (numquam ante hunc diem), or with nisi (“never except”).^[2] Numquam nōn means “always” and nōn numquam “sometimes” (see nōnnumquam).^[2]

It also means “in no circumstances”, especially in promises and warnings (numquam tē patiar perīre “I shall never let you die”).^[2][1]

Timeline

• c. 280–200 BC – First found in Livius Andronicus.^[4][5]
• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus: numquam tē patiar perīre.^[2][5]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses numquam nōn for “always”.^[2][5]

Meanings

Adverb

1. never, at no time.^[2][3]
2. numquam nisi, never except, only;^[2] numquam nōn, always.^[2]
3. In no circumstances, not at all.^[2][1]

Word family

• nōnnumquam

Related words

• umquam
• semper
• nēmō

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m 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 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 c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de