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perquiro

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word perquiro

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 250–184 BC, Plautus
Ultimate origin
Latin (quaerō)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin quaero
Latin quaerito
Latin quaestus
Latin quaestuosus
Latin quaesitor
Latin quaestor
Latin quaestorius
Latin anquiro
Latin perquiro
Latin quaestio
English question
French question
Latin quaestiuncula
Latin quaesitus

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [pɛrˈkʷiː.roː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [perˈkʷiː.ro][1]

Forms

perquīrō (present infinitive perquīrere, perfect active perquīsīvī, supine perquīsītum); third conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin per- (“thoroughly”) + quaerō (“to seek”).[2][1][3] De Vaan lists it among the derivatives of quaerō, which goes back to Proto-Italic *kwai-s-e/o-; he finds best the proposal that this is a present formed to a root meaning “to acquire”, Proto-Indo-European *kueh2-i- (“to acquire”), and calls the older comparisons uncertain.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan records it from Plautus on,[4] who has it with an indirect question: adeunt, perquirunt quid siet caussae, “they go up and ask what the reason is”.[2][5]

Semantic evolution

Its senses are to search everywhere for something, to inquire widely or persistently, and to examine or study in detail.[2] Cicero writes of a letter ordering people to search out certain vessels,[2][5] and of an inquiry whether virtue is sought for its own sake;[2] Caesar uses it of finding out the ways into the land of the Suebi,[5] and Lucretius of searching in vain for signs of the gods' hidden mind.[6] The TLL finds it rather rare in Plautus, Cicero, his brother Quintus, Lucretius and Caesar, and very frequent only in Cassiodorus, who uses it more than a hundred times.[3] In Ecclesiastical Latin it means to seek or examine carefully.[7] It survives in Old Spanish.[3]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of asking a reason.[2][4][8]
  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it.[6][3][8]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of searching and of philosophical inquiry.[2][8]
  • c. 50 BC – Caesar uses it of finding out routes.[5][8]
  • c. 485–c. 580 AD – Cassiodorus uses it more than a hundred times.[3][8]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To search everywhere for.[2][5]
  2. (with an indirect question) To inquire widely or persistently.[2][6]
  3. To examine or study in detail.[2][7]

Word family

  • perquīsītor

References

  1. ^ a b c d 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 d e Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c 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 e Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  6. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  8. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
Cite this entry

“Perquiro.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/perquiro. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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