quantillus

Forms

quantillus (feminine quantilla, neuter quantillum); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin quantulus (“how small”), a further diminutive,^[2][3][4][1] and so goes back to quantus (“how great”).^[5] The medieval lexicographer Osbern of Gloucester likewise lists quantulus and quantillus as the two diminutives of quantus.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is a word of Plautus.^[2][5] In the Mostellaria one speaker says that Philolaches owes a man a little, and the other asks quantillum? (“how little?”).^[7][8]

Semantic evolution

All the classical examples are in Plautus, in questions and exclamations.^[2][7] The neuter is used as a noun, “how small an amount?”, alone or with a partitive genitive (quantillo argento, “for how paltry a sum?”, in the Pseudolus).^[7][3][4] In the Poenulus a father exclaims at his daughters quantae e quantillis iam sunt factae! (“how big they have grown, from such little ones!”).^[2][3][8] Plautus also has it in indirect questions, as in the Captivi, where a character wants to reckon how small a sum he has with the banker.^[2][3]

British medieval writers still used it, in rhetorical questions and exclamations (quantus sum! quantillus eram! in Geoffrey of Vinsauf).^[6]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it in questions and exclamations about small amounts.^[7][5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (interrogative and exclamatory) How small? how little?^[7][2]
2. (neuter as noun) How small an amount? how little? (also with a partitive genitive)^[7][8]
3. (relative, in indirect questions) How small, how little.^[2][3]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
4. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
5. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b 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
7. ^ a b c d e f Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier