quolibet

Forms

quōlibet (not comparable)^[1] It is also written as two words, quō libet.^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin quō (“whither”) + libet (“it pleases”).^[2][3] Georges explains it instead as an old dative ⟨quoilibet⟩ of quīlibet (“anyone you like”).^[4] De Vaan traces libet to Proto-Italic *lufē- (“to desire”) and Proto-Indo-European *lubʰ-eh₁- (“to please”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Lucretius,^[6][4] who writes that a single rudder turns a ship quōlibet, “in any direction one likes”.^[7]

Semantic evolution

In classical Latin it is mostly poetic.^[7] Ovid has quōlibet īre, “to go anywhere”,^[7] and Seneca and a letter of Cassius in Cicero's correspondence use it too.^[6][4]

Medieval Latin kept it: Bede writes of people scattered in every direction, and Domesday Book of landholders who could go quōlibet, wherever they wished without licence.^[8]

Timeline

• 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it of a ship turned in any direction.^[7][3]
• 43 BC–AD 18 – Ovid writes quōlibet īre.^[7][3]
• 4 BC–AD 65 – Seneca uses it in his letters.^[4][3]
• early 8th century – Bede uses it of people dispersed in all directions.^[8][3]

Meanings

Adverb

1. To any place whatever, wherever one pleases; in any direction.^[2][7]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
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 Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press