quelcom

Catalan

FWOTD – 21 January 2013

Etymology

Inherited from Old Catalan queacom, queucom, calcom, caucom, from Latin quale-cumque or quiddam-cumque, although Spitzer suggests quale-quomodo. Compare Occitan calacom, quezacom, queacom.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [kəlˈkɔm]
• IPA^(key): (Valencian) [kelˈkɔm]

Pronoun

quelcom

1. (formal) something

   Synonyms: alguna cosa, res, qualque cosa, (proscribed) algo

   • 1919, Claudi Planas i Font, En Pere i altres contes:

     ...tenia quelcom de brutal l'espectacle d'aquell home decrèpit...

     ...there was something brutal about the spectacle of that decrepit man...

2. (formal, in questions) anything

Usage notes

• In informal speech alguna cosa, res or the nonstandard Castilianism algo are more common.

Adverb

quelcom

1. (literary) a bit, somewhat, rather

Further reading

• “quelcom” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “quelcom”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
• “quelcom” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “quelcom” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.