quam
Latin Edit
Pronunciation Edit
Etymology 1 Edit
From Proto-Italic *kʷis, *kʷoi, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷeh₂m, accusative of *kʷeh₂, feminine of *kʷos, *kʷis. Compare its masculine form cum (as in tum-tam).
"In such a sentence as hic tam beatus est, quam ille the sense of tam beatus could equally be rendered by non beatior. It was presumably by the substitution of equivalent expressions ('contamination'), possibly first in negative expressions, that the illogical quam 'as' came to be used after comparatives." [1]
Alternative forms Edit
Conjunction Edit
quam
- in what (which) way, to what (which) degree; how, how much, as much as, as far as (after superlative adjectives and adverbs)
- quam potuit.
- In what way/ to what degree/ how/ how much/ as much as/ as far as he could.
- quam primum ― as quickly as possible
- quam celerrime ― as quickly as possible
- quam maxime ― as far as possible
- quam serissime ― as late as possible
- quam saepissime ― much often
- Quam rogas!
- How much you ask!
- quam maximis potest itineribus ― by as long journeys as he can (Caesar, de Bello Gallico, VII, 9)
- Ipse, ut quam primum iter faceret ― He himself with the intention of marching as soon as possible (Caesar, de Bello Gallico, VII, 11)
- Equitibus imperat, ut quam latissime possint vagentur et quam maximum hostibus terrorem inferant ― He orders the cavalry to extend themselves as far as they could, and strike as great a panic as possible into the enemy (Caesar, de Bello Gallico, VII, 8)
- ut in omnes partes equites quam latissime pervagentur ― that the cavalry should range as extensively as possible in all directions (Caesar, de Bello Gallico, VII, 9)
- (in comparisons) as
- Tam similis est, quam potest.
- So similar it is, as it can.
- (after comparative adjectives and adverbs) than
- alius quam ― different than
- ante quam (+ subjunctive or infinitive) ― sooner than
- aliter quam voles ― in a different way than you want
- Hic maior est, quam ille.
- This is bigger, than that.
- offendēs dissignātiōnem Tyranniōnis mīrificam librōrum meōrum, quōrum reliquiae multō meliōrēs sunt quam putāram ― You will encounter Tyrannio's wonderful arrangement of my books, the remains of which are much better than I had thought. (Cicero, Epistulae ad Atticum, 4.4A)
- sed Tobias plus timens Deum quam regem rapiebat corpora occisorum et occultabat in domo sua et mediis noctibus sepeliebat ea(AD 4th C., St Jerome, Vulgate, Tobias 2:9:)
- But Tobias fearing God more than the king, carried off the bodies of them that were slain, and hid them in his house, and at midnight buried them.
- Priusque omnes in unum locum cogit quam de eius adventu Arvernis nuntiari posset ― and gathers all legions into one place sooner than (before) the intelligence of his arrival could be announced to the Arverni (Caesar, de Bello Gallico, VII, 9)
- Praestare visum est tamen omnis difficultates perpeti quam tanta contumelia accepta ― However it seemed better to sustain any hardship than to accept such an insult (Caesar, de Bello Gallico, VII, 10)
- (rarely) rather than
- Titus Livius, Ab Urbe Condita I, 35:
Coordinate terms Edit
Derived terms Edit
Related terms Edit
Descendants Edit
- French: que (“than, as”)
- Old Galician-Portuguese: quan; ca
- Romanian: ca (“than, as”)
- Romansch: ca (“than”)
- Spanish: cuan (“how”)
References Edit
- “quam”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- “quam”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
- quam 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)
- quam in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette, pages 1,290–1,291
- Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
- (ambiguous) I cannot wait till..: nihil mihi longius est or videtur quam dum or quam ut
- (ambiguous) nothing is more tiresome to me than..: nihil mihi longius est quam (c. Inf.)
- (ambiguous) it is more than twenty years ago: amplius sunt (quam) viginti anni or viginti annis
- (ambiguous) Plato's ideal republic: illa civitas, quam Plato finxit
- (ambiguous) this is more plausible than true: haec speciosiora quam veriora sunt
- (ambiguous) I have exhausted all my material: copiam quam potui persecutus sum
- (ambiguous) there is nothing I am more interested in than..: nihil antiquius or prius habeo quam ut (nihil mihi antiquius or potius est, quam ut)
- (ambiguous) by the longest possible forced marches: quam maximis itineribus (potest)
- (ambiguous) I cannot wait till..: nihil mihi longius est or videtur quam dum or quam ut
- Dizionario Latino, Olivetti
- quam in Ramminger, Johann (accessed 22.04.04) Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700[2], pre-publication website, 2005-2016
- “quam” on pages 1,537–1,538 of the Oxford Latin Dictionary (1st ed., 1968–82)
- ^ Palmer, L.R. (1906) The Latin Language, London, Faber and Faber, p. 337
Etymology 2 Edit
See quī (relative pronoun and interrogative adjective).
Pronoun Edit
quam
Adjective Edit
quam
Etymology 3 Edit
See quis (pronoun).
Pronoun Edit
quam
Middle Dutch Edit
Verb Edit
quam
Middle English Edit
Pronoun Edit
quam
- (Northern) Alternative form of whom (“who, whom”, accusative)