Etymologically
Log in

quadriga

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 19 October 2026 at 19:55. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [kʷaˈdriː.ɡa][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [kʷaˈdriː.ɡa][1]

Forms

quadrīga f (genitive quadrīgae); first declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin quadri- (“four”) + iugum (“yoke”), with the element ⟨-iga⟩ as in bīgae (“two-horse chariot”).[2][1] De Vaan lists it, dated from Plautus, among the words from the root of iungō (“to yoke”), which goes back to Proto-Indo-European *(H)iugo- (“yoke”).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus has the plural quadrīgae in the Amphitruo, of mounting Jupiter's four-horse chariot.[2][3][4]

Semantic evolution

It is a chariot with its team of four horses harnessed abreast, or the team itself; the plural is older, and the OLD's first singular is in Cicero.[2][5] Cicero tells of a dream of riding in a four-horse chariot.[2] Columella uses it of chariot horses kept for breeding, and Varro of a team of asses sold for 400,000 sesterces.[2] In medieval texts it is a measure of land, a carucate.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of Jupiter's chariot.[2][4]
  • 116–27 BC – Varro of a costly team of asses.[2][4]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses the singular.[2][4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A chariot with its team of four horses abreast.[2][5][7][1]
  2. A team of four horses; chariot horses; a team of other animals.[2]
  3. (Medieval Latin) A measure of land, a carucate.[6]

Word family

  • quadrīgālis
  • quadrīgārius
  • quadrīgātus
  • quadrīgula

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 de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  7. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson