nequiquam Latin · revision 30897

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=compound|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus|origins=la nē, la quisquam}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [neːˈkʷiː.kʷãː]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [neˈkʷiː.kʷam]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''nēquīquam''' (not comparable)^(Wiktionary)

+ It is also spelled ''nēquicquam'' and ''necquicquam''.^(OLD 2012)

+ Lewis and Short prefer ''nēquīquam'', the spelling of the best manuscripts.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is formed from [[m|la|nē|t=not]] and ⟨quīquam⟩, an old ablative of [[m|la|quisquam|t=anyone, anything]]: “by nothing”; compare [[m|la|nēquāquam|t=by no means]].^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010) De Vaan explains such ablatives in ⟨quī⟩ as an old instrumental.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Plautus, ''Amphitruo'': ''vēra dīcō, sed nēquīquam, quoniam nōn vīs crēdere'', “I tell the truth, but in vain, since you won't believe”.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It means to no purpose, in vain, and, often in litotes, without cause or groundlessly: “not for nothing have I become a soldier”.^(OLD 2012) A passage in Varro may show it in the sense “by no means”.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus in the sense “in vain”.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adverb===

+ # In [[m|en|vain]], to no purpose, uselessly.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Without cause, [[m|en|groundlessly]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[quisquam]]

+ * [[nēquāquam]]

+ * [[frūstrā]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Döderlein distinguishes [[frūstrā]], “in vain” with regard to the person whose hopes were disappointed, from ''nēquīquam'', which looks at the nothing the thing came to; neither blames anyone, while [[incassum]] adds that the failure could have been foreseen.^(Döderlein 1874)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}