quicumque
Latin
Alternative forms
- quīcunque
- quīcũque (medieval, renaissance, early modern)
- quī ... cumque (with tmesis/diacope)
Etymology
From quī + -cumque. Quicunque is a later development reflecting the assimilated pronunciation.
Pronunciation
- (Classical) IPA(key): /kʷiːˈkun.kʷe/, [kʷiːˈkʊŋkʷɛ]
- (Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /kwiˈkun.kwe/, [kwiˈkuŋkwe]
Pronoun
quīcumque (feminine quaecumque, neuter quodcumque); relative/interrogative pronoun with an indeclinable portion
- whoever, whatever
- 2022 November 9, Wikipedia contributors, “Petrus Ramus”, in English Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation:
- Quaecumque ab Aristotele dicta essent, commentitia esse
- Whatever things have been stated by Aristotle, they are false.
-
- whosoever, whatsoever
Usage notes
- quīcumque is used both adjectivally and substantivally.
- Cato is cited with the archaic plural form quescumque (from ques).
Declension
Relative/interrogative pronoun with an indeclinable portion.
Number | Singular | Plural | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Case / Gender | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | |
Nominative | quīcumque | quaecumque | quodcumque | quīcumque1 | quaecumque | ||
Genitive | cuiuscumque1 | quōrumcumque | quārumcumque | quōrumcumque | |||
Dative | cuicumque1 | quibuscumque quīscumque1 | |||||
Accusative | quemcumque | quamcumque | quodcumque | quōscumque | quāscumque | quaecumque | |
Ablative | quōcumque | quācumque | quōcumque | quibuscumque quīscumque1 |
1In Republican Latin or earlier, quī was often spelled as quei, cuius as quoius, cui as quoi (or quoiei), and quīs as queis.
Quotations
- Gajus Sallustius Crispus, Bellum Jugurthinum In: Sallust with an English translation by J. C. Rolfe, 1921, p. 362f.:
- Eos ad Marium ac deinde, si placeat, Romam legatos ire iubet ; agundarum rerum et quocumque modo belli componundi licentiam ipsis permittit.
- These he ordered to go as envoys to Marius and then, if it seemed advisable, to Rome, giving them complete freedom of action and permission to make peace on any terms.
- Eos ad Marium ac deinde, si placeat, Romam legatos ire iubet ; agundarum rerum et quocumque modo belli componundi licentiam ipsis permittit.
- 43 B.C., letter of Asinius Pollio to Cicero. In: Cicero The Letters to his Friends with an English translation by W. Glynn Williams, vol. II of three volumes, 1952, p. 402f.:
- Ita si id agitur, ut rursus in potestate omnia unius sint, quicumque is est, ei me profiteor inimicum.
- If therefore events are so developing as to put all power again in the hands of one man, whosoever that man is, I declare myself his foe;
- Ita si id agitur, ut rursus in potestate omnia unius sint, quicumque is est, ei me profiteor inimicum.
- Propertius, liber IV (of four books). In: Propertius with an English translation by H. E. Butler, 1916, p. 262f.:
- Hoc quodcumque vides, hospes, qua maxima Roma est,
ante Phrygem Aenean collis et herba fuit;- All that thou beholdest, stranger, where mighty Rome lies spread, was grass and hill before the coming of Phrygian Aeneas;
- Hoc quodcumque vides, hospes, qua maxima Roma est,
- Cornelius Nepos, Datames
- Namque is pollicitus est regi se eum interfecturum, si ei rex permitteret, ut, quodcumque vellet, liceret impune facere, fidemque de ea re more Persarum dextra dedisset. [1]
- for Mithridates promised the king that he would kill Datames, if the king would allow him to do with impunity whatever he wished, and would give him a pledge to that effect with his right hand after the manner of the Persians. [2]
- Namque is pollicitus est regi se eum interfecturum, si ei rex permitteret, ut, quodcumque vellet, liceret impune facere, fidemque de ea re more Persarum dextra dedisset. [1]
Related terms
Latin correlatives (edit)
type | interrogative | indefinite | (medial) demonstrative | proximal demonstrative | distal demonstrative | relative | indefinite relative | identity | other |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
basic | quis, quī | quis, quī, quīdam, aliquis, aliquī, quisque, quisquam, aliquisquam, quispiam, ūllus | is, iste, istic | hic | ille, illic | quī | quisquis, quīcumque | ipse, īdem | alter, alius |
dual | uter | alteruter, uterque | uter | utercumque | |||||
number | quot | aliquot | tot | quot | quotquot, quotcumque | totidem | |||
order | quotus | totus | quotus | quotuscumque | |||||
quantity | quam | aliquam | tam | quam | †quamquam | †tamen, †tandem | |||
size | quantus | aliquantus | tantus | quantus | quantuscumque | tantusdem | |||
quality | quālis | aliquālis | tālis | quālis | quālis, quāliscumque | ||||
manner | ut, quī, quō modō, quōmodo, quemadmodum | utique, quī, quōdam modō, aliquō modō | ita, sic, eō/istō modō | hōc modō | illō modō | ut, quī, quō modō, quōmodo, quemadmodum | utut, utcumque, quōmodocumque | item, itidem | aliter, aliōquī, alterō/aliō modō |
method, path, place | quā | aliquā, quāque | eā, istāc | hāc | illāc | quā | quāquā, quācumque | eādem | aliā |
place | ubi | alicubi, ubique, usquam, uspiam | ibi, istic | hīc | illīc | ubi | ubiubi, ubicumque | ibidem | alibī, aliās |
source | unde | alicunde, undeunde | inde, istinc | hinc | illinc | unde | undecumque | indidem | aliunde |
destination | quō, quōrsum | aliquō, quōquam, quōpiam, °aliquōvorsum | eō, istūc, °istōrsum | hūc, °hōrsum | illūc, °illōrsum | quō | quōquō, quōcumque | eōdem | aliō, aliorsum |
time | quandō | quondam, aliquandō, quandōque, umquam | tum, tunc | num, nunc | ōlim | cum, quandō | cumque, quandōcumque, quandōque | simul | aliās |
exact time | quota hōra | ea/ista hōra | hac hōra | illa hōra | quota hōra | quotacumque hōra | eadem hōra | altera/alia hōra | |
repetition | quotiēns | aliquotiēns | totiēns | quotiēns | quotiēnscumque | ||||
multiplication | quotuplex | totuplex | quotuplex | ||||||
† Turned conjunction with original meaning somewhat dissimulated ° Rare |
Descendants
- → English: quicumque vult, quicunque vult
References
- “quīcumque (or -cunque), quaecumque, quodcumque”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- “quīcumque (not -cunque), quaecumque, quodcumque”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
- quīcumquĕ (-cunquĕ), quæc-, quodc- in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette, page 1298
- Cornelius Nepos. Erklärt von Karl Nipperdey. Kleinere Ausgabe, 2nd edition, Berlin, 1856, p. 78 (also at The Latin Library)
- The Tertullian Project: Cornelius Nepos: Lives of Eminent Commanders