Etymologically
Log in

quandocumque

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 20 October 2026 at 15:44. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [kʷan.doːˈkʊŋ.kʷɛ][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [kʷan.doˈkum.kʷe][1]

Forms

quandōcumque (not comparable)[1] It is also spelled quandōcunque.[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin quandō (“when”) + cumque (“-ever”).[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lewis and Short cite Cato, as quoted by Pliny the Elder: quandōcumque ista gēns suās litterās dabit, “whenever that people gives us its literature”.[3][4] The earliest instance the OLD cites is in the Alexandrian War, “whenever chance offered”.[2][5]

Semantic evolution

As a relative adverb it means at whatever time, whenever, as often as: Horace has quandōcumque trahunt invīsa negōtia Rōmam, “whenever hateful business drags me to Rome”, and Propertius “whenever the fates demand back my life”.[2][6] Lewis and Short note that it is mostly poetic.[3] As an indefinite adverb it means at some time or other: in Ovid one character threatens another, quandōcumque mihi poenās dabis!, “some day you will pay me for this!”.[2][6]

Medieval writers used it in both senses:[7] Boniface writes in a letter of 716 of sins committed “whenever” in word or deed, and Alcuin of a hoped-for future, “if ever”.[7] Ecclesiastical Latin also used it as a conjunction, “no matter when”.[8]

Timeline

  • 234–149 BC – Cato uses it, as quoted by Pliny the Elder.[3][4]
  • 65–8 BC – Horace uses it, once split by tmesis.[2][3]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it.[2]
  • 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it indefinitely, “some day”.[2][6]
  • 716 – Boniface uses it in a letter.[7]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. (relative) At whatever time, whenever, as often as.[2][3]
  2. (indefinite) At some time or other, at any time; in due time.[2][3]

Usage notes

Horace splits it by tmesis, quandō cōnsūmet cumque, “some day he will finish him off”.[2][6] Terentianus Maurus scans it with a short final ⟨o⟩ in quandŏ.[3]

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 f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  5. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c d Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  7. ^ a b c Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
  8. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson