quota

Forms

quota f (genitive quotae); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin quotus (“how many, of what number”), taken as a noun from the phrase quota pars (“how large a part”).^[1][2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Niermeyer records it as a feminine noun meaning a share.^[4] The earliest dated use that Du Cange gives is in a bull of Pope Innocent VI of 1361, where it is a share of the church tithes, the same as quarta.^[5]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Latin the adjective quotus with pars asked what proportion of the whole something was, as in Pomponius in the Digest: quotam quisque partem possideat “what share each one owns”.^[6]

In Medieval Latin the feminine became a noun for what each person owed a prince or a lord as tax or rent; a charter of Richard II of England lists quotae among impositions, taxes and tallages.^[5] Wiktionary describes it as a percentage of the yield owed to the authorities as tax, and in New Latin as a proportional share assigned to each in a division.^[1] The Polish medieval dictionary adds the senses “amount, number” and “sum of money”.^[7]

Italian quota continues the phrase quota pars,^[3] and English took quota in the 1660s, first of contributions of soldiers or supplies levied on a town or district.^[2]

Timeline

• 1361 – A bull of Pope Innocent VI uses it for a share of the church tithes.^[5]
• 1660s – English borrows it as quota.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (Medieval Latin) A share, a proportional part.^[4][1]
2. (Medieval Latin) What one owes a prince or a lord as tax or rent; a share of the yield paid as tax.^[5][1]
3. (Medieval Latin) A share of the church tithes.^[5]
4. (Medieval Latin) An amount; a sum of money.^[7]
5. (New Latin) A quota, the share assigned to each in a division.^[1]

Related words

• English quota

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
5. ^ a b c d e du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
6. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b Lexicon mediae et infimae Latinitatis Polonorum (1953–), Kraków: Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN; electronic ed. elexicon.scriptores.pl