Etymologically
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uter

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈʊ.tɛr][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈuː.ter][1]

Forms

uter (feminine utra, neuter utrum); first/second-declension pronoun (nominative masculine singular in -er, pronominal declension)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *kʷoteros (“which of two”), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *kʷo-tero- (“which of two”).[2][1] De Vaan explains the Latin u from the interrogative stem *kʷu- of ubī and unde, while Sabellic kept *potero-.[2] Cognate with Oscan pútereípíd (“in each of the two”), Sanskrit कतर (katará, “which of two”), Ancient Greek πότερος (póteros, “which of two”), Gothic 𐍈𐌰𐌸𐌰𐍂 (ƕaþar, “which of two”) and Old English hwæþer (English whether).[2][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Livius Andronicus.[2] Köbler dates his career to before 200 BC.[5]

Semantic evolution

It was an interrogative “which of the two?”, a relative “whichever of the two”, and an indefinite “either of two”, mostly in negative or conditional clauses.[3][1] Its family includes uterque “each of the two”, neuter “neither” and utervīs “whichever you please”.[2]

The genitive utrīus is sometimes scanned short in Horace.[3]

Timeline

  • before 200 BC – Livius Andronicus uses it.[2][5]
  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses utriscum “with which of the two”.[3][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero asks which of two causes should be thought popular.[3][5]

Meanings

Pronoun

  1. (interrogative) Which of the two?[3]
  2. (relative) Whichever of the two.[3]
  3. (indefinite) Either of the two, one or the other.[3][1]

Word family

  • utercumque
  • uterlibet
  • utervīs
  • utrinde
  • utrubi
  • alteruter
  • neuter
  • uterque

Usage notes

Two different nouns share the form: Latin ūter (genitive ūtris), a leather bag for wine or water, which de Vaan thinks may be inherited from *udri- “water vessel”, comparing Ancient Greek ὑδρία (hudría, “water pot”), and uter (genitive uterī), a variant of uterus.[2][3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de