Etymologically
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quiete

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Forms

quiētē (comparative quiētius, superlative quiētissimē)[1][2]

Etymology

It is from Latin quiētus (“at rest, quiet”) + -ē, the adverb of the adjective.[1][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Cicero,[4][2] who in the Tusculan Disputations wants a person to bear whatever fortune brings aptē et quiētē, fittingly and calmly.[1][2]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Latin it meant free from disturbance: Cicero speaks of living and spending one's life quietly,[5] Caesar of withdrawing quiētissimē, in perfect quiet,[5][6] and Livy of fighting quiētius, with less heat.[5][6] Of the mind it meant calmly or serenely,[1][5] and Macrobius contrasts eating quiētius, unhurriedly, with greedy gulping.[5]

Medieval Latin used it in the language of property: Niermeyer records the sense “without dispute”,[7] and in British charters land was held quiētē, free from services and claims, from a charter dated 866 (in an 11th-century copy) on;[8] with clāmāre it meant to quitclaim, renounce a claim.[8] William of Malmesbury still uses it of a king ruling undisturbed.[8]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it for living and bearing fortune calmly.[1][5][4]
  • c. 50 BC – Caesar has the superlative quiētissimē.[5][6][4]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy has the comparative quiētius.[5][6][4]
  • first half of the 5th century AD – Macrobius uses it of eating slowly.[5][4]
  • 866 – A British charter (in an 11th-century copy) grants lands to be held līberē et quiētē.[8]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. Without disturbance; quietly, peacefully.[1][5][2]
  2. Calmly, serenely, without agitation.[1][5]
  3. Unhurriedly, slowly.[5]
  4. (Medieval Latin) Undisputedly.[7]
  5. (Medieval Latin, law) Free from services or claims, with immunity; with clāmāre, to quitclaim.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  2. ^ a b c d Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  3. ^ Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier
  4. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  6. ^ a b c d Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  7. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  8. ^ a b c d e 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