quirito

Forms

quirītō (present infinitive quirītāre, perfect active quirītāvī, supine quirītātum); first conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is probably from Latin Quirītēs (“Roman citizens”), so that it first meant to call on the citizens for help.^[2][3][4] De Vaan lists it among the derivatives of that noun, and Wiktionary reports that he accepts this explanation, which was current already in antiquity.^[5][1] Varro already gave this explanation.^[6][3] Wiktionary also mentions a derivation from queror (“to complain”), whose sound changes and meaning are hard to account for.^[1]

The origin of the noun itself is unclear; de Vaan rejects a compound with vir (“man”) and suggests that it may be a loanword, since Roman legend connects the Quirites and Quirīnus with Sabellic settlers in Rome.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Lucilius on,^[5][7] who has clārē quirītāns, “crying out aloud”.^[3][4]

Semantic evolution

From a cry for help it became any loud cry of distress or protest: Livy speaks of the vōx quirītantium, “the voice of people crying for help”.^[3][8] A letter of Asinius Pollio in Cicero's correspondence tells of a wretched man who kept crying cīvis Rōmānus nātus sum, “I was born a Roman citizen”.^[3][4][8] Quintilian uses it of an orator who shrieks.^[3][8]

It also took an object: Pliny the Elder complains loudly with it about the price of cooks, and Apuleius has Charite bewailing her husband's fate in the streets.^[4][2] Varro and Nigidius use a deponent quirītor.^[2][4]

Timeline

• c. 180–102 BC – Lucilius has clārē quirītāns “crying out aloud”.^[3][7]
• 116–27 BC – Varro explains it as calling on the Quirites for help.^[6][3][7]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy writes of the cries of people calling for help.^[3][7]
• c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian uses it of an orator who shrieks.^[3][7]
• c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius uses it transitively, “to bewail”.^[2][7]

Meanings

Verb

1. To cry out for help; to raise a public outcry in protest at a wrong.^[2][3]
2. To wail, shriek; of an orator, to scream.^[3][8]
3. (transitive) To cry out (words); to bewail (something).^[2][3][4]

Word family

• prōquirītō
• quirītātiō
• quirītātus

Usage notes

Lewis and Short give the cry as prō fidem, Quirītēs!, and Varro writes: quirītāre dīcitur is quī Quirītium fidem clāmāns implōrat, “a man is said to quirītāre who loudly calls on the protection of the Quirites”.^[3][6] A separate verb quīrītō (also spelt quirrītō), onomatopoeic, names the cry of the boar; it is known from a fragment of Suetonius.^[2][4]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
5. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
6. ^ a b c Marcus Terentius Varro, De lingua Latina (text of The Latin Library; book and paragraph numbers as there).
7. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
8. ^ a b c d Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier