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Etymology and origin of the Latin word quare

Confidence
Established
Formation
Compound
First attested
220–130 BC, Pacuvius
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin quare
French car

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈkʷaː.reː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈkʷaː.re][1]

Forms

quārē (not comparable)[1]

Etymology

It is the ablative phrase ⟨quā rē⟩, “by which thing”, from the ablative of quī and of rēs “thing, matter”, and is also written separately.[2][3][1][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Pacuvius has quārē expedī, “so explain!”, and an epitaph of the Scipios quārē lubēns tē in gremiu, Scīpiō, recipit terra, “therefore the earth gladly takes you into its lap, Scipio”.[2] Köbler dates it from Terence.[4]

Semantic evolution

As an interrogative quārē asks “how?” and, more often, “why?”.[2][3][1] As a relative it means “by which means, whereby”, “for which reason”, and at the start of a sentence “therefore, hence”.[2][3][1] Döderlein says cūr is used both for real questions and for rhetorical ones, quārē only for questions that expect an answer.[5]

Church Latin glosses it “why, for what cause, by which means, wherefore”.[6]

Timeline

  • 220–130 BC – Pacuvius: quārē expedī.[2][4]
  • 190–159 BC – Terence: alienus est ab nostrā familiā – hem, periī: quārē?, “he is no friend of our family” – “what, I'm done for: why?”[2][4]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero: permulta sunt quae dīcī possunt, quārē intellegātur, “there is a great deal that can be said to make it clear”.[2][4]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. (interrogative) In what way?, how?[2][3][1]
  2. (interrogative) why?, for what reason?[2][1][6]
  3. (relative) By which means, whereby.[2][3][1][6]
  4. (relative) For which reason; therefore, hence.[2][1][6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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 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. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
  6. ^ a b c d Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson

Descendants

Cite this entry

“Quare.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/quare. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·