unusquisque

Forms

ūnusquisque m (feminine ūnaquaeque, neuter ūnumquidque)^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin ūnus (“one”) + quisque (“each”);^[1][2] L&S treats it as a phrase that is sometimes written solid.^[3] The first part goes back to Proto-Italic *oino- and Proto-Indo-European *Hoi-no- (“one”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus has the neuter in the Bacchides: placide volo unumquidque agamus, “I want us to do each thing calmly”.^[5]

Semantic evolution

Cicero uses it both as a pronoun and with a noun (ūnāquāque dē rē, “on each single matter”); the neuter ūnumquidque serves as a noun, “each thing”, and ūnumquodque goes with a noun.^[6][3] Gellius has it in the 2nd century AD.^[2]

In Church Latin it means “every, everyone”.^[7] Köbler records it widely in early medieval texts, among them the Germanic law codes, and lists its Old High German, Old Saxon and Old English glosses.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses the neuter ūnumquidque, “each thing”.^[5][2]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it as a pronoun and with a noun.^[6][2]
• c. 165 AD – Gellius uses it.^[2]

Meanings

Pronoun

1. Each one, every single one.^[1][6][7]
2. (neuter ūnumquidque) Each thing.^[6][5]

Adjective

1. Each, every single.^[1][5]

Usage notes

The OLD and L&S give it no article of its own but treat it under ūnus (the OLD also under quisque).^[8][3]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
3. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ 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 Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c d Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
8. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press