quis

Forms

quis or quī or quei (feminine quae or quis or qua, neuter quid); interrogative/indefinite pronoun (with m optionally → n in compounds)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *kʷis, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *kʷís (“who, what; someone”), the interrogative and indefinite stem.^[2][1] The neuter ⟨quid⟩ continues *kʷid; the forms of the feminine and of the genitive and dative singular were supplied by the relative stem (see quī).^[2][3] The indefinite pronoun “anyone” is the unaccented form of the same word.^[3]

Cognate with Oscan pis and Umbrian pisi, Ancient Greek τίς (tís), Sanskrit किम् (kím, “what”) and Hittite kuiš.^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found in the Twelve Tables and in Livius Andronicus.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

As an interrogative it asks “who?” and in the neuter quid “what?” or “why?”; it is used substantivally, while quī is the matching adjective.^[3][5] As an indefinite pronoun it means “anyone, anything”, especially after sī, nisi, num and nē (sī quis “if anyone”, nē quis “that no one”).^[3][5]

The old nominative plural quēs survives in the senatorial decree on the Bacchanalia and in Pacuvius.^[3][5]

Timeline

• c. 450 BC – Used in the Twelve Tables.^[2][4]
• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses quis of women too.^[3][4]

Meanings

Pronoun

1. (interrogative) who? which person?^[3][5]
2. (neuter quid) What? why? what for?^[3][1]
3. (indefinite) Anyone, someone; anything, something (after sī, nisi, num, nē).^[3][5]
4. (in a negative clause) Any single person.^[3]
5. (adjective, rare) Any; which.^[3][1]

Word family

• aliquis
• ecquis
• quisquis
• quisnam
• quisquam
• quisque
• quia
• quidnī
• quamquam
• nēquīquam
• nesciō quis

Related words

• quī
• uter
• English who

Usage notes

Quis is properly used of more than two; for “which of two?” Latin uses uter.^[5][1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ 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
4. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press