numquam
Pronunciation
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
- never, at no time.[2][3]
- numquam nisi, never except, only;[2] numquam nōn, always.[2]
- In no circumstances, not at all.[2][1]
Word family
- nōnnumquam
Related words
References
- ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ 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
- ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ 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
- ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de