quaero

LatinEdit

Alternative formsEdit

(without rhotacism of the stem consonant): quaesō

EtymologyEdit

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”) and probably Albanian kam (“I have”).

In some sources etymologized as if 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.

PronunciationEdit

(Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈkʷae̯.roː/
(Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈkwɛ.ro/, [ˈkwɛː.ro]
Audio (Ecclesiastical)
(file)

VerbEdit

quaerō (present infinitive quaerere, perfect active quaesīvī, supine quaesītum); third conjugation

I seek, look for
Quaerendo invenietis
By seeking ye shall find.

Quaerite Dominum
Seek ye the Lord
I ask, question, inquire, query.
I strive for; endeavor; seek to obtain
I miss, lack
I desire, require, want

ConjugationEdit

Conjugation of quaero (third conjugation)
indicative		singular			plural
indicative		first	second	third	first	second	third
active	present	quaerō	quaeris	quaerit	quaerimus	quaeritis	quaerunt
	imperfect	quaerēbam	quaerēbās	quaerēbat	quaerēbāmus	quaerēbātis	quaerēbant
	future	quaeram	quaerēs	quaeret	quaerēmus	quaerētis	quaerent
	perfect	quaesīvī	quaesīvistī, quaesīsti¹	quaesīvit	quaesīvimus	quaesīvistis, quaesīstis¹	quaesīvērunt, quaesīvēre
	pluperfect	quaesīveram	quaesīverās	quaesīverat	quaesīverāmus	quaesīverātis	quaesīverant
	future perfect	quaesīverō	quaesīveris	quaesīverit	quaesīverimus	quaesīveritis	quaesīverint
passive	present	quaeror	quaereris, quaerere	quaeritur	quaerimur	quaeriminī	quaeruntur
	imperfect	quaerēbar	quaerēbāris, quaerēbāre	quaerēbātur	quaerēbāmur	quaerēbāminī	quaerēbantur
	future	quaerar	quaerēris, quaerēre	quaerētur	quaerēmur	quaerēminī	quaerentur
	perfect	quaesītus + present active indicative of sum
	pluperfect	quaesītus + imperfect active indicative of sum
	future perfect	quaesītus + future active indicative of sum
subjunctive		singular			plural
subjunctive		first	second	third	first	second	third
active	present	quaeram	quaerās	quaerat	quaerāmus	quaerātis	quaerant
	imperfect	quaererem	quaererēs	quaereret	quaererēmus	quaererētis	quaererent
	perfect	quaesīverim	quaesīverīs	quaesīverit	quaesīverīmus	quaesīverītis	quaesīverint
	pluperfect	quaesīvissem, quaesīssem¹	quaesīvissēs, quaesīsses¹	quaesīvisset, quaesīsset¹	quaesīvissēmus, quaesīssemus¹	quaesīvissētis, quaesīssetis¹	quaesīvissent, quaesīssent¹
passive	present	quaerar	quaerāris, quaerāre	quaerātur	quaerāmur	quaerāminī	quaerantur
	imperfect	quaererer	quaererēris, quaererēre	quaererētur	quaererēmur	quaererēminī	quaererentur
	perfect	quaesītus + present active subjunctive of sum
	pluperfect	quaesītus + imperfect active subjunctive of sum
imperative		singular			plural
imperative		first	second	third	first	second	third
active	present	—	quaere	—	—	quaerite	—
active	future	—	quaeritō	quaeritō	—	quaeritōte	quaeruntō
passive	present	—	quaerere	—	—	quaeriminī	—
passive	future	—	quaeritor	quaeritor	—	—	quaeruntor
non-finite forms		active			passive
non-finite forms		present	perfect	future	present	perfect	future
infinitives		quaerere	quaesīvisse, quaesīsse¹	quaesītūrus esse	quaerī	quaesītus esse	quaesītum īrī
participles		quaerēns	—	quaesītūrus	—	quaesītus	quaerendus
verbal nouns		gerund				supine
		nominative	genitive	dative/ablative	accusative	accusative	ablative
		quaerere	quaerendī	quaerendō	quaerendum	quaesītum	quaesītū

¹At least one rare poetic syncopated perfect form is attested.

Derived termsEdit

Related termsEdit

quaesō

DescendantsEdit

Albanian: qeroj
Aragonese: querer
Aromanian: tser, tsireari
Asturian: querer
Corsican: chera, chere
English: query, quaere, querent (via quaerens), quest, question (via quaestio)
Extremaduran: querel
French: quérir
Friulian: cirî
Galician: querer
Italian: chiedere
Leonese: querere
Mirandese: querer
Mozarabic: kerére
Occitan: quèrre
Portuguese: querer
Romanian: cere, cerere
Sardinian: chèrrere, chèrri
Spanish: querer
Walloon: cweri

ReferencesEdit

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^[1], 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
“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: 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, page 503