quocirca

Forms

quōcircā (relative adverb)^[2] It is also written as two words, quō circā.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin quō (“by which”) + circā (“around, about”).^[2][3][1] De Vaan explains circā as a newer form beside circum, the old accusative of circus (“circle”), which he takes as probably borrowed from Ancient Greek κρίκος (kríkos, “ring”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Varro, and Lewis & Short cite his De lingua Latina.^[4][3][5] Köbler dates it from Cicero.^[5]

Semantic evolution

It introduces a main sentence: for which reason, wherefore, as when Cicero says that the senate of the ancestors rightly decreed something.^[2][3] A law inscription also uses it to introduce a clause.^[2] Lewis & Short call it rare but classical, and note an old form ⟨quōqirca⟩;^[3] Horace splits it with a word between.^[3] Church Latin glosses it on that account, therefore.^[6]

Timeline

• 116–27 BC – Varro uses it.^[4][3][5]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero of a decree of the senate.^[3][5]
• 65–8 BC – Horace splits it with a word between.^[3][5]

Meanings

Adverb

1. For which reason, on which account, wherefore, therefore.^[2][3][1][6]

Related words

• circā
• idcircō

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f 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 Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ 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
5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson