uspiam
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Pronunciation
Forms
uspiam (not comparable)[1]
Etymology
It is probably from Latin ut (“as, so that”) + -pe + iam (“now, already”),[2][3] with ⟨ut⟩ enlarged by /s/, as in Oscan puz and Umbrian puze (“as, so that”).[2][3] The ending is the same as in quispiam, and usquam is formed alike with ⟨-quam⟩.[2][3]
Earliest recorded meaning
It is found from Plautus on,[3] in a line asking to look around first in case there is an ambush anywhere.[2]
Semantic evolution
It means somewhere or anywhere, especially in conditional clauses, as in Cicero's “whether that law is written somewhere or nowhere”.[2][4] Lewis & Short call it rare but classical, used mostly in affirmative clauses, in contrast to usquam.[4] After negatives it is found in Livy and Apuleius, and Apuleius has it with a partitive genitive (uspiam gentium).[2]
Timeline
- c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of an ambush anywhere.[2][5]
- 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it in conditional clauses.[2][4][5]
- 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it after a negative.[2][5]
- c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius uses it with a partitive genitive.[2][5]
Meanings
Adverb
Related words
References
- ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ 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
- ^ 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
- ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de