quotannis

Forms

quotannīs (not comparable)^[1] It is also written as two words.^[2][3] Inscriptions have the spelling quodannis.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin quot (“as many as”) + annus (“year”), with the ablative plural of the noun.^[2][1] De Vaan traces quot to Proto-Italic *kʷoti and Proto-Indo-European *kʷe/o-ti (“how many”), and annus to Proto-Italic *atno- (“year”) and Proto-Indo-European *h₂et-no- (“going (around)”).^[4] Cognate with Oscan akeneí (“in the year”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus.^[4][5]

Semantic evolution

It means every year, annually, as in Cicero's taxes paid every year.^[2][3] Virgil writes it as two words, and Caesar has the accusative quot annōs.^[3] The Digest says it makes no difference whether a legacy is left “for each year” or “every year”.^[3] Church Latin glosses it “yearly, annually”.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus.^[4][5]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero of taxes paid every year.^[3][5]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil, written as two words.^[3][5]

Meanings

Adverb

1. Every year, annually, yearly.^[2][3][6][1]

Related words

• quot
• annus
• cottīdiē

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson