quorsum

Forms

quōrsum (not comparable)^[1] Also quōrsus.^[2][3] Accius has quōsum, and corsum or corsus is a reading in Valerius Maximus.^[2]

Etymology

It is from Latin quō (“whither”) + vorsum (“turned towards”), with the archaic form of versus², written as one word.^[2][1][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus has it first.^[4] In the Poenulus it is relative, “in the direction in which”;^[2] elsewhere he asks tenes quorsum haec tendant quae loquor?, “do you see where what I am saying is heading?”.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The literal question “in what direction, to what place?” appears in Pacuvius.^[2] From there it turns to “to what end, to what point?”, often with a verb of saying left out: Cicero asks where so long a speech is heading, and why he is arguing this.^[2][3] In medieval texts it means simply “where”.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus, of where one's words are heading.^[3][2][4]
• 220–130 BC – Pacuvius, of the direction of a journey.^[2][4]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero, “to what end?”.^[2][4]
• Medieval Latin – “Where”.^[5]

Meanings

Adverb

1. In what direction? to what place? whither?^[2][3][1]
2. To what point or condition? to what end? why?^[2][1]
3. (relative) In the direction in which.^[2]

Related words

• quō
• versus²
• vertō

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill