quandoquidem

Forms

quandō̆quidem ^[1] It is also written separately.^[2] In dactylic verse the second syllable is short, as in Virgil and Lucretius.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin quandō (“when, since”) + quidem (“indeed”), a fusion of the conjunction with the particle.^[2][1][4] The conjunction quandō is from quam (“how, as”) and an element ⟨*dō⟩ also seen in dōnec; the OLD compares Sanskrit कदा (kadā́, “when”).^[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first source is Plautus;^[4] Terence has “since I am so helpless, so without counsel”.^[3]

Semantic evolution

It means since, seeing that or inasmuch as, giving a reason already known or granted.^[2][3] Church Latin glosses it “seeing that, because, since”,^[5] and in medieval texts it also means “when”.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus.^[4]
• 190–159 BC – Terence of “since I am so helpless”.^[3][4]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil, with the second syllable short.^[3][4]
• Middle Ages – In the sense “when”.^[6]

Meanings

Conjunction

1. Since, seeing that, inasmuch as.^[2][3][1]
2. (Medieval Latin) When.^[6]

Related words

• quandō
• quidem

References

1. ^ a b c d e f 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 d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
6. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill