quaestor

See also: quæstor

English

Alternative forms

• quæstor
• questor

Etymology

From Middle English questor, from Latin quaestor, from an old participle form of quaerō.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈkwiːstə/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈkwistɚ/
• Rhymes: -iːstə(ɹ)

Noun

quaestor (plural quaestors)

1. (historical) An Ancient Roman official responsible for public revenue and other financial affairs.
   • 1969, Victor Ernest Watts (translator), Anicius Manlius Severinus Boëthius (author), The Consolation of Philosophy, Penguin Books, book III, chapter iv, page 85, footnote 2:

     Decoratus was quæstor in A.D. 508.

2. (historical) The Quaestor sacri palatii of the late Roman Empire and Byzantium; first generally a legislator, then judicial official, and eventually an honorary title by the 14th century.
3. (historical) In the Middle Ages, an officer who announced indulgences.

Translations

Ancient Roman official

• Bulgarian: квестор m (kvestor)
• Catalan: qüestor m
• Faliscan: 𐌂𐌖𐌄𐌔𐌕𐌏𐌃 (cuestod)
• Finnish: kvestori (fi)
• French: questeur (fr) m
• Galician: cuestor m
• German: Quästor (de) m
• Greek:

  Ancient: κοιαίστωρ m (koiaístōr)

• Hungarian: quaestor (hu)
• Ido: questoro (io)
• Italian: questore (it) m
• Latin: quaestor m
• Polish: kwestor (pl) m
• Romanian: chestor (ro) m
• Russian: кве́стор (ru) m (kvéstor)
• Slovak: kvestor m
• Swedish: kvestor c
• Turkish: quaestor

Quaestor sacri palatii

Medieval officer who announced indulgences

Anagrams

• equators, quorates

Dutch

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

quaestor m (plural quaestoren or quaestors or quaestores, diminutive quaestortje n, feminine quaestrix)

1. treasurer

Synonyms

• (treasurer): penningmeester, schatbewaarder, thesaurier

Latin

Alternative forms

• quaistor

Etymology

For Proto-Italic *kʷaistōr, as quaerō +‎ -tor.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈkʷae̯s.tor/, [ˈkʷäe̯s̠t̪ɔr]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈkwes.tor/, [ˈkwɛst̪or]

Noun

quaestor m (genitive quaestōris); third declension

1. quaestor

   Hypernym: magistrātus

   • c. 52 BCE, Julius Caesar, Commentarii de Bello Gallico 6.6:

     Caesar partitis copiis cum Gaio Fabio legato et Marco Crasso quaestore celeriterque effectis pontibus adit tripertito, aedificia vicosque incendit, magno pecoris atque hominum numero potitur.

     Caesar, having divided his forces with C. Fabius, his lieutenant, and M. Crassus his questor, and having hastily constructed some bridges, enters their country in three divisions, burns their houses and villages, and gets possession of a large number of cattle and men.

Declension

Third-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	quaestor	quaestōrēs
Genitive	quaestōris	quaestōrum
Dative	quaestōrī	quaestōribus
Accusative	quaestōrem	quaestōrēs
Ablative	quaestōre	quaestōribus
Vocative	quaestor	quaestōrēs

Derived terms

• quaestūra

Descendants

• → Byzantine Greek: κυαισίτωρ (kuaisítōr)
• →? Faliscan: cuestod (nom.sg.)
• → Marsian: qestur (nom.pl.)
• → Oscan: kvaísstur (nom.sg.), kvaízstur, κϝαιστορ
• → Umbrian: kvestur (nom.sg.), ⇒ kvestretie

References

• De Vaan, Michiel (2008) “quaerō”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 503

Further reading

• “quaestor”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “quaestor”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• quaestor 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)
• quaestor in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• quaestor in Ramminger, Johann (2016 July 16 (last accessed)) Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700‎^[1], pre-publication website, 2005-2016
• “quaestor”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin