Etymologically
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quamquam

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈkʷaŋ.kʷãː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈkʷaŋ.kʷam][1]

Forms

quamquam [1] It is also spelled quanquam.[2][3]

Etymology

It is quam repeated, first “however much”, a generalizing doubling like quisquis “whoever”.[2][1][4] ⟨Quam⟩ is the accusative feminine singular of the relative pronoun quī.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus;[4] in the Aulularia a slave says he will watch where the old man hides his gold, quamquam hīc manēre mē erus sēsē iusserat, “although, to be sure, my master had told me to stay here”.[2]

Semantic evolution

Quamquam introduces a concession of fact, “however much”, later simply “although”, regularly with the indicative before and in classical prose; later writers also use the subjunctive, as with quamvīs.[2][3] At the head of a main sentence it corrects or qualifies what precedes, “and yet, however”.[2][3] With an adjective or participle it means “albeit”.[2]

In Church Latin it is glossed “although, and yet, nevertheless”.[5]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it in the Aulularia and the Amphitruo.[2][6]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero: quamquam ubi tū tē populārem … potes dīcere?, “and yet how can you call yourself a man of the people?”[2][6]
  • c. 100–24 BC – Nepos uses it with the subjunctive.[2][6]

Meanings

Conjunction

  1. although, though, however much.[2][3][1][5]
  2. (introducing a main clause) And yet, however, to be sure.[2][3][5]
  3. (with an adjective or participle) Albeit.[2][1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f 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 d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ 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
  5. ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  6. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de