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numquid

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word numquid

Confidence
Established
Formation
Compound
First attested
c. 250–184 BC, Plautus
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*nu)

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈnʊŋ.kʷɪd][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈnum.kʷid][1]

Forms

numquid (not comparable)[1] It is also spelled nunquid.[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from num (“interrogative particle”) and quid (“anything”).[2][1] De Vaan traces ⟨num⟩ to Proto-Italic *num (“now”) and Proto-Indo-European *nu (“now”), cognate with Ancient Greek νῦν (nûn, “now”), Sanskrit नूनम् (nūnám, “now, indeed”) and Gothic 𐌽𐌿 (nu, “now”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus, Pseudolus: numquid īrātus es … propter hās rēs, Simō?, “you're not angry over this, are you, Simo?”.[2][5]

Semantic evolution

Numquid introduces a question expecting the answer “no”, “is it really possible that…?”, and in indirect questions means “whether” (Cicero: I should like to know whether it is necessary).[2] In rhetorical questions it implies a firm denial (Ovid: numquid tua signa relīquī?, “did I ever desert your standards?”).[2] Lewis & Short note that it can also stand in plain questions where English has no equivalent word, as Terence's numquid meministī?, “do you remember?”.[3]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus in a question expecting “no”.[2][5]
  • 190–159 BC – Terence: numquid meministī?.[3][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero in an indirect question.[2][5]

Meanings

Particle

  1. (in questions expecting a negative answer) Surely not? is it possible that?[2][1]
  2. (in indirect questions) Whether.[2]
  3. (in rhetorical questions) Can it be said that…? (implying “no”).[2]

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 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. ^ 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
Cite this entry

“Numquid.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/numquid. Accessed 19 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·