Etymologically
Log in

quocumque

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 19 October 2026 at 00:11. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Forms

quōcumque (not comparable)[1] It is also spelled quōcunque and quōquomque.[2] It is often split by tmesis, as Horace's quō nōs cumque feret.[3]

Etymology

It is formed from quō (“to which place”) and the generalising suffix -cumque (“-ever”).[2][1][4] ⟨Quō⟩ is the ablative of the relative quī (“who, which”), from Proto-Italic *kʷoi and Proto-Indo-European *kʷo-.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler gives Terence as its first author.[4]

Semantic evolution

It is “to whatever place, wherever”, as Cicero's “wherever they came” and Horace's “to go wherever the feet will carry me”.[3][2] Figuratively it is “in whatever direction”: in Cicero nothing follows so easily wherever one leads it as speech.[2][3] Without a verb it means “anywhere at all”, as Virgil's sailors driven by fear to shake out the ropes for any course.[2]

The Vulgate has sequar tē quōcumque ieris, “I will follow you wherever you go”.[3] Church Latin glosses it “to whatever place, whithersoever”.[6]

Timeline

  • 190–159 BC – Terence.[4]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of “wherever” and of speech that follows any lead.[3][2][4]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil of “anywhere at all”.[2][4]
  • 390–406 AD – The Vulgate's “I will follow you wherever you go”.[3][4]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. To whatever place, wherever, whithersoever.[2][1][6]
  2. (figurative) In whatever direction.[2]
  3. (without a verb) Anywhere at all.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ 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 Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson