quaestio

English

Etymology

From Latin quaestiō (“inquiry”).

Noun

quaestio (plural quaestiones)

(law, historical) In ancient Rome, a commission to inquire into a criminal matter given to a citizen (the quaesitor) who then reported to whoever appointed him.

Latin

Etymology

From quaerō. Compare with later quaesītiō.

Pronunciation

(Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈkʷae̯s.ti.oː/, [ˈkʷäe̯s̠t̪ioː]

(Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈkwes.ti.o/, [ˈkwɛst̪io]

Noun

quaestiō f (genitive quaestiōnis); third declension

problem
seeking
inquiry, investigation, questioning, question
inquisition

Declension

Third-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	quaestiō	quaestiōnēs
Genitive	quaestiōnis	quaestiōnum
Dative	quaestiōnī	quaestiōnibus
Accusative	quaestiōnem	quaestiōnēs
Ablative	quaestiōne	quaestiōnibus
Vocative	quaestiō	quaestiōnēs

Derived terms

quaestiōnārius
quaestiōnō
vēxāta quaestiō

Descendants

→ Catalan: qüestió
→ Dutch: kwestie
→ Ido: questiono
→ Italian: questione
→ Old French: question
- → Middle English: questioun, question, questiun, questyon, questyounn, qwestyon, qwestioun
  - English: question
  - Scots: quaisten, quastin
  - → Welsh: cwestiwn
- French: question
  - → Romanian: chestie, chestiune
- Norman: tchestchion (Jersey)
→ Old Irish: ceist
- Irish: ceist
- Manx: keisht
- Scottish Gaelic: ceist
→ Portuguese: questão
→ Sicilian: custioni, quistioni
→ Spanish: cuestión

References

“quaestio”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
“quaestio”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
quaestio in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
quaestio in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette
Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎, London: Macmillan and Co.
- systematic, scientific discussion: disputatio, quaestio
- to propose a subject of debate, put a question: quaestionem ponere, proponere
- to get a question submitted to one: quaestionem poscere (Fin. 2. 1. 1)
- at this point the question arises: hoc loco exsistit quaestio, quaeritur
- it is a difficult point, disputed question: magna quaestio est (followed by an indirect question)
- to decide, determine a question: quaestionem solvere
- the question has been settled: quaestio ad exitum venit
- the standing commissions of inquiry: quaestiones perpetuae (Brut. 27. 106)
- to examine a person, a matter: quaestionem habere de aliquo, de aliqua re or in aliquem
- to preside over an inquiry: quaestioni praeesse
“quaestio”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898) Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
quaestio in Ramminger, Johann (accessed 16 July 2016) Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700‎, pre-publication website, 2005-2016