quaero
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Alternative forms
- (old desiderative?): quaesō
Etymology
Uncertain. According to Nussbaum and de Vaan, from Proto-Italic *kʷaizeō, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷeh₂- (“to acquire”), via a se/o-present built upon an i-present form *kʷeh₂-i- (“to acquire”). In this case, cognates would include Ancient Greek πέπαμαι (pépamai, “to get, acquire”), Old Prussian quoi (“I/you want”) and quāits (“desire”), Lithuanian kviẽsti (“to invite”).
In some sources etymologized as being from Proto-Indo-European *kʷoys-, *kʷeys- (“to see”), but this was deemed uncertain by Schrijver in 1991.
LIV accepts Szemerényi's 1960 etymology that it is a derivation of *h₂eys- (“to seek, ask”), via the form *koaiseo.
Pronunciation
- (Classical Latin) IPA(key): /ˈkʷae̯.roː/, [ˈkʷäe̯roː]
- (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /ˈkwe.ro/, [ˈkwɛːro]
Verb
quaerō (present infinitive quaerere, perfect active quaesīvī or quaesiī, supine quaesītum); third conjugation
- to seek, look for
- to ask, question, seek or search for a thing, inquire, query, interrogate
- to strive for; endeavor; seek to obtain
- to miss, lack
- to desire, require, want, aim at
Conjugation
1At least one rare poetic syncopated perfect form is attested.
Derived terms
Related terms
Descendants
- Balkan Romance:
- Italo-Romance:
- Insular Romance:
- North Italian:
- Gallo-Romance:
- Ibero-Romance:
- Vulgar Latin:
- *acquaerere (see there for further descendants)
- Borrowings:
References
- Sihler, Andrew L. (1995) New Comparative Grammar of Greek and Latin, Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, § 457.B
- Walther von Wartburg (1928–2002) “quaerĕre”, in Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, volume 2: C Q K, page 1409
Further reading
- “quaero”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- “quaero”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
- quæro in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette, pages 1,288–9.
- Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book, London: Macmillan and Co.
- to court a person's favour; to ingratiate oneself with..: gratiam alicuius sibi quaerere, sequi, more strongly aucupari
- to be guided by ambition: laudem, gloriam quaerere
- a theme, subject proposed for discussion: id quod quaerimus (quaeritur)
- at this point the question arises: hoc loco exsistit quaestio, quaeritur
- the question now is..: nunc id quaeritur, agitur
- the question at issue: res, de qua nunc quaerimus, quaeritur
- to give the etymological explanation of words: nomina enodare or verborum origines quaerere, indagare
- to earn a livelihood by something: victum aliqua re quaerere
- to court popularity: gratiam populi quaerere
- to strive to gain popular favour by certain means: ventum popularem quendam (in aliqua re) quaerere
- to hold an inquiry into a matter: quaerere aliquid or de aliqua re
- to have a person tortured: quaerere tormentis de aliquo
- to examine slaves by torture: de servis quaerere (in dominum)
- to put it exactly: si quaeris, si verum quaerimus
- to court a person's favour; to ingratiate oneself with..: gratiam alicuius sibi quaerere, sequi, more strongly aucupari
- “quaerō” on page 1,533 of the Oxford Latin Dictionary (1st ed., 1968–82)
- Niermeyer, Jan Frederik (1976) “quaerere”, in Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden, Boston: E. J. Brill, page 877
- De Vaan, Michiel (2008) Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 503
Anagrams
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