Etymologically
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quoquam

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈkʷoː.kʷãː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈkʷɔː.kʷam][1]

Forms

quōquam (not comparable)[1]

Etymology

It is a compound of quō (“whither”) and -quam (“any”),[1][2] formed like quisquam (“anyone”).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Plautus,[2] who in the Asinaria has a woman forbidden to be sent anywhere except to a particular man.[4]

Semantic evolution

It means to any place, in any direction, mostly in negative, interrogative and similar contexts.[3][4] Lewis & Short call it rare but classical: Terence, Lucretius, Sallust, Cicero and Livy use it, and Nepos says that Atticus did not move anywhere from Rome.[4] Stelten gives "whithersoever, to any place" for Church Latin.[5]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of sending someone anywhere.[4][2]
  • 190–159 BC – Terence.[4]
  • c. 100–24 BC – Nepos of Atticus not leaving Rome.[4]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. (in negative or questioning contexts) To any place, in any direction, anywhere.[3][4][1][5]

References

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