Etymologically
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postquam

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈpɔs(t).kʷãː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈpɔst.kʷam][1]

Forms

postquam [1] Plautus, Titinius, Accius and Virgil have the spelling posquam.[2][3]

Etymology

It is a univerbation of post “after” and quam “than”, “later than”; it is also written separately.[2][3][1] ⟨Post⟩ goes back to Proto-Indo-European *pos-ti (“after”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Naevius on;[5] his epitaph says postquam est Orchī trāditus thēsaurō, oblītī sunt Rōmae loquier linguā Latīnā, “after he was handed over to the treasury of Orcus, they forgot at Rome how to speak Latin”.[2]

Semantic evolution

Postquam means “after, when”, usually with the perfect indicative, and “ever since” of a state that lasts from that time.[2][1] With a causal or adversative force it means “now that, since” or “even after”.[2][1] In Church Latin it is glossed “as soon as”.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 235–200 BC – Naevius' epitaph: postquam est Orchī trāditus thēsaurō.[2][5]
  • 204–169 BC – Ennius: postquam dēfessī sunt stāre, “after they were tired of standing”.[2][5]
  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus: postquam illic abiit, dīcere hīc quidvīs licet, “now that he has gone, one can say anything here”.[2][5]

Meanings

Conjunction

  1. after, when.[2][3][1][6]
  2. Ever since.[2]
  3. Now that, since;[2][1] even after.[2]
  4. As soon as.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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
  6. ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson