quisquous

English

Alternative forms

• quiscos, quiscus, quisqouse, quisquose

Etymology

Shared with quisquis and quiscoskos; from Latin quisquis (“whosoever”) or by reduplication of Latin quis (“of what kind”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkwɪsk(w)əs/

Adjective

quisquous (comparative more quisquous, superlative most quisquous)

1. (Scotland, rare) Hard to deal with; dubious; of people: having a character difficult to assess.

   Synonyms: mysterious, perplexing, puzzling, dubious, doubtful, debatable, quisquis, quiscoskos

   Antonyms: clear, familiar, indubious

   • 1830, rev. Robert Wodrow, rev. Robert Burns, The History of the Sufferings of the Church of Scotland, from the Restoration to the Revolution, Tom 2‎^[1]:

     Besides, the truths delivered by ministers in the fields upon quisquous subjects, with no small caution by some, and pretty safely, were heard and taken up by the hearers, according to their humours and opinions, many times far different from, and altogether without the cautions given by the preacher, which either could not, or were not understood by them.

Related terms

• quiscoskos
• quisquis

References

• “quisquous”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “quisquous” in the Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries.
• John Jamieson (1808) “QUISQUOUS, adj.”, in An Etymological Dictionary of the Scottish Language: […], volumes II (L–Z), Edinburgh: […] University Press; for W[illiam] Creech, A[rchibald] Constable & Co., and W[illiam] Blackwood; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, & Orme, T[homas] Cadell & W. Davies, and H. D. Symonds, →OCLC.