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quivis

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word quivis

Confidence
Established
Formation
Compound
First attested
c. 250–184 BC, Plautus
Ultimate origin
Latin (quī,volō)

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈkʷiː.wiːs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈkʷiː.vis][1]

Forms

quīvīs (feminine quaevīs, neuter quidvīs); relative pronoun (with m optionally → n in compounds) with an indeclinable portion[1] Terence has an old ablative quīvīs.[2][3] The neuter is quodvīs as an adjective and quidvīs as a pronoun.[2][1]

Etymology

It is formed from quī (“who, which”) and vīs (“you wish”), the second person of volō (“to want”): “whom you will”.[2][1][3] The parts can still stand apart in Cato: ⟨quod genus vīs⟩, “of any kind you like”.[3] De Vaan reports Meiser's derivation of ⟨vīs⟩ from a root ⟨*weiH-⟩, “strive after”, beside Cowgill's from ⟨*wel-s⟩.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus, Amphitruo: hoc quoivīs mīrārī licet, “anyone may wonder at this”.[2][5]

Semantic evolution

As a pronoun it is anyone you please, no matter who, also with ūnus and with a partitive genitive (Plautus: Jupiter fears trouble no less than any of you); the neuter quidvīs is anything at all, as Plautus' nunc licet mī līberē quidvīs loquī, “now I may say anything freely”.[2] As an adjective it is any whatever, and cuiusvīs modī is “of any kind”.[2][1]

Church Latin glosses it “whosoever you will, anyone at all” and the adjective “any you please”.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of anyone and anything.[2][5]
  • 190–159 BC – Terence: quidvīs oneris impōne, “lay any burden on me”.[2][5]

Meanings

Pronoun

  1. Anyone you please, whoever you will.[2][1][6]
  2. (neuter quidvīs) Anything at all, whatever you please.[2][1][6]

Determiner

  1. Any you please, any whatever, cuiusvīs modī, of any kind.[2][1][6]

Usage notes

Döderlein sets it beside quisque, “each”, and quīlibet: quīvīs is any individual you choose, without exception and with emphasis, quīlibet any whatever, chosen with indifference.[7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c d Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  7. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
Cite this entry

“Quivis.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/quivis. Accessed 19 Oct. 2026.

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