quadruplus

Forms

quadruplus (feminine quadrupla, neuter quadruplum); first/second-declension adjective^[1] Plautus has the spelling quadrupulus, and Suetonius quadriplus.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin quadri- + -plus, with the ending as in duplus.^[2][4] Wiktionary analyses it as quattuor (“four”) with the suffix ⟨-plus⟩ “-fold”, and compares quadrō for the development of the cluster ⟨dr⟩.^[1] De Vaan records the compounding form ⟨quadru-⟩ or ⟨quadri-⟩ “four” from Naevius on, and notes that most of the secure ⟨quadru-⟩ spellings stand before a labial.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest literary citation is from Plautus' Truculentus, where a speaker threatens to seize a woman for a fourfold penalty (manum iniciam quadrupli).^[2] Plautus lived c. 250–184 BC.^[6] Köbler also lists the Twelve Tables among its sources.^[6]

Semantic evolution

As a neuter noun, quadruplum was a term of Roman law: a fourfold amount, especially the fourfold penalty, in phrases such as in quadruplum and quadrupli.^[2][3] Cato contrasts the thief, condemned to pay double, with the usurer, condemned to pay fourfold,^[2][3] and Gaius explains that the action for fourfold was set up by the praetor's edict.^[2] Lewis and Short call the adjective itself rare;^[3] the OLD cites it from Suetonius and Apuleius for things four times as great.^[2] English took the noun in the early 15th century and the adjective, through French, in the 1550s.^[4]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses quadrupli for a fourfold penalty.^[2][6]
• 234–149 BC – Cato says usurers are condemned to pay fourfold.^[2][3][6]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero speaks of a trial for fourfold damages.^[2][6]
• c. 75–150 AD – Suetonius uses the adjective of a New Year's gift returned four times over.^[2][6]
• 140–180 AD – Gaius describes the action for fourfold.^[2][6]
• early 15th century – English borrows the noun as quadruple, “a fourfold amount”.^[4]
• 1550s – The adjective quadruple enters English through French.^[4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Fourfold, four times as great or as much.^[2][3][1]

Noun

1. (neuter, quadruplum) A fourfold amount;^[2][3] (law) a fourfold penalty, as in the phrases in quadruplum and quadrupli.^[2][3]

Word family

• quadruplō

Related words

• duplus
• quattuor
• English quadruple

Usage notes

Lewis and Short note that the adjective is rare, while the neuter noun quadruplum is classical.^[3]

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 k l m n o Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
6. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de