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quaestorius

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word quaestorius

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
81–43 BC, Cicero
Ultimate origin
Latin (quaerō)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin quaero
Latin quaestor
Latin quaestorius
Latin quaestio
English question
French question
Latin quaestus
Latin quaestuosus

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [kʷae̯sˈtoː.ri.ʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [kʷesˈtɔː.ri.us][1]

Forms

quaestōrius (feminine quaestōria, neuter quaestōrium); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin quaestor + -ius.[2][3] De Vaan derives quaestor from quaerō “to seek”; the Oscan and Umbrian words for quaestor, such as Oscan kvaísstur, are loans from Latin.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Cicero,[3] who in the Verrines accuses a man of thinking two inheritances had come to him, one of them his quaestorian charge.[2]

Semantic evolution

It means of a quaestor or his office, done as quaestor: Cicero speaks of a quaestor's duty and of a crime committed as quaestor.[2][5] It is used of a clerk in a quaestor's office, and ⟨porta quaestōria⟩ in Livy is a gate of the camp.[2] Of people it means of quaestorian rank, having held the office, as in Cicero's Gaius Sicinius, and also old enough for it.[2] Quintilian speaks of the age required for the quaestorship.[5]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of a quaestor's office and rank.[2][5][3]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of the quaestorian gate.[2][3]
  • c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian of the quaestorian age.[5][3]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Of a quaestor or his office; done as quaestor.[2][5][1]
  2. Employed in a quaestor's office;[2] porta quaestōria, a gate of a camp.[2]
  3. Of quaestorian rank, having been quaestor; old enough to be quaestor.[2][5]

Word family

  • quaestōrium

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 k Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  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 e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
Cite this entry

“Quaestorius.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/quaestorius. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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