quisque

Forms

quisque (feminine quaeque, neuter quidque or quicque); indefinite substantival pronoun, singular only^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin quis + -que, the interrogative and indefinite pronoun with the enclitic ⟨-que⟩ in its old generalizing sense, comparable to the Homeric use of Ancient Greek τε (te).^[2][1]

Compare Avestan čišča (“each”) and Gothic 𐍈𐌰𐌶𐌿𐌷 (ƕazuh, “each”), formed in the same way.^[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Plautus on.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Quisque means “each (one), every one”, of more than two (for two, uterque).^[2][4] It is typically placed after a relative or interrogative (ut quisque, quod quisque) or a reflexive (suum quisque, sibi quisque), and with a superlative it means “all the most …” (optimus quisque “all the best men”).^[2][4] The neuter is quidque as a pronoun, quodque as an adjective.^[2]

Döderlein notes that quisque means each individual, quīvīs any one you choose, and quīlibet any one you please, while omnēs and cūnctī mean all together.^[5] In Ecclesiastical Latin it often stands for quisquis or quīcumque.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus: sibi quisque habeant quod suom est.^[2][3]

Meanings

Pronoun

1. each, each one, every one.^[2][4]
2. (with a superlative) All the most …: optimus quisque, all the best.^[2]
3. (Ecclesiastical Latin) Whoever, whatever.^[6]

Word family

• ūnusquisque

Related words

• quis
• quīvīs
• quīlibet
• uterque
• quoque
• omnis

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson