quippe

Latin

Etymology

For quid (“what, why, well!”, interjection) +‎ -pe, the same corroborating particle seen in nempe; see also quispiam.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈkʷip.pe/, [ˈkʷɪpːɛ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈkwip.pe/, [ˈkwipːe]

Particle

quippe (discourse particle)

1. (explanatory, quasi-conjunction) the reason is that (introducing the reason for a previous assertion and expecting ready agreement)
   1. (used as a standalone answer, often followed by a sentence introduced with etenim)
2. (followed by quī, quae, quod with subjunctive) as is to be expected from someone who; as being
3. (followed by ubī̆ with indicative or subjunctive) seeing as, since, inasmuch as (specifying and qualifying a situation)
4. (followed by cum, quandō, quoniam, quod, quia, sī, quī (instrumental) with indicative) as is natural when, seeing as (introducing a justification, defence etc.)
5. (explicative, often parenthetic) indeed, since, after all, why, I mean (often corresponding to a written dash in English)
   • Vergil, Aeneid 1.37–39:

     Mene incepto desistere victam,
     nec posse Italia Teucrorum avertere regem?
     Quippe vetor fatis.

     • 1983 translation by Robert Fitzgerald

       Give up what I began? Am I defeated? Am I impotent to keep the king of Teucrians from Italy? The Fates forbid me, am I to suppose?

   1. for, namely (explaining the usage of a word or phrase)

Derived terms

• quippinī

See also

• certē
• enim
• immō
• nam
• nempe
• nīmīrum
• plānē
• profectō
• scīlicet
• sānē
• vidēlicet
• vērō

 

References

• “quippe” on page 1715 of the Oxford Latin Dictionary (2nd ed., 2012)

Further reading

• “quippe”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “quippe”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• quippe in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Sihler, Andrew L. (1995) New Comparative Grammar of Greek and Latin, Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, →ISBN