Etymologically
Log in

quatenus

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 20 October 2026 at 03:33. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈkʷaː.tɛ.nʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈkʷaː.te.nus][1]

Forms

quātenus (not comparable)[1] It is written quātinus in Ovid, Frontinus and an inscription,[2] and Festus cites quātenōs.[3]

Etymology

It is from Latin quā (“where, by which way”) + tenus (“as far as”).[2][1] De Vaan explains tenus as a fossilized form of an s-stem noun ⟨tenus⟩, ⟨-oris⟩, “snare, stretch”, from Proto-Italic *tenos- and Proto-Indo-European *ten-os- (“stretch”), of the root of teneō.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Scipio the Younger.[5]

Semantic evolution

As an interrogative it asks how far in space, how long in time, to what extent, and in what manner: Cicero asks how long he should hold the fasces, and says one must consider carefully how far an orator should deal in jokes.[2] As a relative it is as far as, up to the point where, for as long as and to the extent that: Livy speaks of leaving the Carthaginian nothing of Italy but what his camp's rampart encloses, and Cicero writes that there is a limit to how far friendship may be pardoned.[2] From Lucretius on it also has a causal sense, inasmuch as, since, and in the Digest a final sense, so that, perhaps through interpolation.[2] In medieval Latin it introduces purpose and requests, “in order that, that”.[6]

Timeline

  • 185/184–129 BC – Scipio the Younger.[5]
  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius, inasmuch as.[2][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero, how long, to what extent, as long as.[2][5]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy, as far as.[2][5]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. (interrogative) How far? how long? to what extent? in what manner?[2][3][1][7]
  2. (relative) As far as, up to the point where; for as long as; to the extent that, insofar as.[2][3][7]
  3. Inasmuch as, seeing that, since.[2][7]
  4. So that, in order that;[2][6] (Medieval Latin) that, introducing a request.[6]

References

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