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quaerito

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word quaerito

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 250–184 BC, Plautus
Ultimate origin
Proto-Italic (*kwai-s-e/o-)
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: [ˈkʷae̯.rɪ.toː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈkʷɛː.ri.to][1]

Forms

quaeritō (present infinitive quaeritāre, perfect active quaeritāvī, supine quaeritātum); first conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin quaerō (“to seek”) + -itō, a frequentative verb.[2][1] De Vaan traces quaerō to Proto-Italic *kwai-s-e/o-, and considers the best proposal to date the one that takes it from a root Proto-Indo-European *kueh₂- (“to acquire”), as in Ancient Greek πέπαμαι (pépāmai, “to acquire”).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus,[3] who uses it often: “we are looking among the living for a dead man”, and “I am worn out with searching”.[4]

Semantic evolution

Lewis & Short note that it is ante-classical.[4] It means to keep looking for, search for or hunt for someone; to try to obtain or go after something, as in “what do you want? what are you after?”; to ask a person for something; and to ask a question, as in “why do you ask that?”[2] Terence also has it.[4] Church Latin uses it for seeking earnestly.[5]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus, of searching and asking.[2][4][3][6]
  • 190–159 BC – Terence, of looking for someone.[4][6]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To keep looking for, search for, hunt for.[2][4][1]
  2. To try to obtain, seek; to ask (someone) for something.[2][1]
  3. To ask (a question), inquire.[2][1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ 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
  4. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  6. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
Cite this entry

“Quaerito.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/quaerito. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·