quaestio

Latin

Etymology

From quaerō +‎ -tiō. Compare with later quaesītiō.

Pronunciation

(Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈkʷae̯s.ti.oː]
(modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈkʷɛs.ti.o]

Noun

quaestiō f (genitive quaestiōnis); third declension

problem
seeking
inquiry, investigation, questioning, question
quaestiō aeterna
an eternal question
- 63 BCE, Cicero, Catiline Orations Oratio in Catilinam Prima in Senatu Habita.18:
  […] tū nōn sōlum ad neglegendās lēgēs et quaestiōnēs, vērum etiam ad ēvertendās perfringendāsque valuistī.
  […] you have had the power not only for neglecting laws and investigations, but also for overthrowing and shattering them.
inquisition

Declension

Third-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	quaestiō	quaestiōnēs
genitive	quaestiōnis	quaestiōnum
dative	quaestiōnī	quaestiōnibus
accusative	quaestiōnem	quaestiōnēs
ablative	quaestiōne	quaestiōnibus
vocative	quaestiō	quaestiōnēs

Derived terms

Descendants

→ Catalan: qüestió
→ Dutch: kwestie
→ Ido: questiono
→ Italian: questione
→ Old French: question (see there for further descendants)
→ Old Irish: ceist (see there for further descendants)
→ Portuguese: questão
→ Sicilian: custioni, quistioni
→ Spanish: cuestión
→ Polish: kwestia

References

“quaestio”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
“quaestio”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
"quaestio", 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)
“quaestio”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894), Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
- systematic, scientific discussion: disputatio, quaestio
- to propose a subject of debate, put a question: quaestionem ponere, proponere
- to get a question submitted to one: quaestionem poscere (Fin. 2. 1. 1)
- at this point the question arises: hoc loco exsistit quaestio, quaeritur
- it is a difficult point, disputed question: magna quaestio est (followed by an indirect question)
- to decide, determine a question: quaestionem solvere
- the question has been settled: quaestio ad exitum venit
- the standing commissions of inquiry: quaestiones perpetuae (Brut. 27. 106)
- to examine a person, a matter: quaestionem habere de aliquo, de aliqua re or in aliquem
- to preside over an inquiry: quaestioni praeesse
“quaestio”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper’s Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
quaestio in Ramminger, Johann (16 July 2016 (last accessed)), Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700‎^[2], pre-publication website, 2005-2016