Etymologically
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usquequaque

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ʊs.kʷɛˈkʷaː.kʷɛ][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [us.kʷeˈkʷaː.kʷe][1]

Forms

usquequāque (not comparable)[1] It is also written separately, usque quāque.[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin usque (“all the way”) + quāque (“wherever”),[1] the second part being the feminine ablative of quisque (“each”).[2] De Vaan traces the first part to Proto-Italic *ū̆skʷe and Proto-Indo-European *(H)ū̆d(s) (“up, out”);[4] Dunkel proposes *ud-skʷe.[4] Cognates of the root are Sanskrit उद् (úd, “up, out”) and Old High German ūz (“out”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Plautus on,[4] meaning everywhere: quom usquequaque umbra est, tamen sol semper hic est, “though there is shade everywhere, the sun is always here”.[2][5]

Semantic evolution

Plautus also uses it of every situation, as when a character complains that Chrysalus speaks ill of him at every turn.[2][5] Cicero uses it in this way in the Orator, and Pliny the Elder in the sense of everywhere.[5] It also means wholly, in every respect: in the Catalepton a verse is said to fit altogether, and Pliny the Younger calls something entirely to be praised.[2][5]

Medieval writers in Britain use it of everywhere, as Bede does of a hill covered with flowers, and of every occasion or every respect.[3] Ecclesiastical Latin has it for everywhere, utterly and altogether.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of everywhere and of every situation.[2][7]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it in the Orator.[5][7]
  • c. 160–220 AD – Köbler records it in Tertullian.[7]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. Everywhere, in every direction.[2][5][3]
  2. In every situation, on every occasion.[2][5]
  3. In every respect, wholly, altogether.[2][5][6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University 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 e f g h Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  7. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de