quam

See also: Quam, quặm, and QAM

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈkʷãː]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈkʷam]

Etymology 1

From Proto-Italic *kʷis, *kʷoi, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷeh₂m, accusative of *kʷeh₂, feminine of *kʷos, *kʷís. Compare its masculine form cum (as in tum-tam).

According to L. R. Palmer, "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."

Alternative forms

• quamde, quande

Adverb

quam

1. (before superlative adjectives and adverbs) in what (which) way, to what (which) degree; how, how much, as much as, as far as

   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 minimum ― as little as possible

   quam serissime ― as late as possible

   quam saepissime ― much often

   Quam rogas! ― How much you ask!

   • 23 BCE – 13 BCE, Horace, Odes I.11:

     carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero

     pluck the day, trusting the next [day] as little as possible

   • c. 52 BCE, Julius Caesar, Commentarii de Bello Gallico VII.8:

     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

   • c. 52 BCE, Julius Caesar, Commentarii de Bello Gallico VII.9:

     ut in omnes partes equites quam latissime pervagentur

     that the cavalry should range as extensively as possible in all directions

   • c. 52 BCE, Julius Caesar, Commentarii de Bello Gallico VII.9:

     quam maximis potest itineribus

     by as long journeys as he can

   • c. 52 BCE, Julius Caesar, Commentarii de Bello Gallico VII.11:

     Ipse, ut quam primum iter faceret

     He himself, with the intention of marching as soon as possible

2. (in comparisons) as

   Tam similis est, quam potest.

   It is as similar as it can be.

Conjunction

quam

1. (after comparative adjectives and adverbs) than

   Synonym: atque / ac

   alius quam ― different than

   ante quam (+ subjunctive or infinitive) ― sooner than

   aliter quam vis ― in a different way than you want

   Hic maior est, quam ille.

   This is bigger than that.

   • 68 BCE – 44 BCE, Cicero, Epistulae ad Atticum 4.4A:

     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.

   • c. 52 BCE, Julius Caesar, Commentarii de Bello Gallico VII.9:

     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

   • c. 52 BCE, Julius Caesar, Commentarii de Bello Gallico VII.10:

     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

   • 405 CE, Hieronymus, Vulgate Tobias 2:9:

     sed Tobias plus timens Deum quam regem rapiebat corpora occisorum et occultabat in domo sua et mediis noctibus sepeliebat ea

     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.

2. (rare) rather than
   • 27 BCE – 25 BCE, Titus Livius, Ab Urbe Condita I.35:

     Romae se quam in vetere patria vixisse

     he had lived in Rome rather than his city of birth

Coordinate terms

• tam

Derived terms

• aliquisquam
• (Vulgar Latin) *dunquam
• haudquaquam
• nequaquam
• numquam
• nusquam
• perquam
• priusquam
• quamdiū
• quamobrem
• quamplures
• quamprimum
• quamquam
• quamvis
• quandō
• quantus
• quasi
• quisquam
• quōquam
• tamquam
• umquam
• usquam

Related terms

Latin correlatives ^(edit)

type	demonstrative			realis		irrealis			interrogative				indefinite					alternative
	proximal	medial	distal	anaphoric	identity	conditional	preclusive	negative		indefinite	irrelative / emphatic	relative		irrelative	free choice	universal	negative polarity
basic	hic	iste istic	ille illic	is	ipse īdem	sīquis	nēquis	nēquisquam nēmō̆ nihil nūllus	numquis	ecquis ecquī ecquisnam ecquīnam	quisnam quīnam	quis quī	quisquis quīcumque	quīdam aliquis, quis aliquī, quī quispiam	quīvis quīlibet	quisque	quisquam ūllus	alius
comparative	huiusmodī huiuscemodī	istī̆usmodī	illī̆usmodī	eiusmodī	eiusdemmodī	sīcuiusmodī		nēcuiusquammodī	numcuiusmodī		cuiusnammodī	cuiusmodī	cuiusmodīcumque	alicuiusmodī cuiusdammodī	cuiusvīsmodī	cuiusquemodī	cuiusquammodī	alterī̆usmodī
dual							nēcuter	neuter			uternam	uter	utercumque	alteruter	utervīs uterlibet	uterque		alter
place	hīc	istīc	illīc	ibī̆	ibī̆dem	sīcubī	nēcubi	nusquam nūllibī			ubinam	ubī̆	ubī̆cumque ubiubī̆	alicubī̆ uspiam	ubivīs ubilibet	ubīque	usquam	alibī aliās
source	hinc	ºistim istinc	ºillim illinc	inde	indidem	sīcunde	nēcunde	°nūllunde			undenam	ºcum unde	undecumque undeunde	alicunde	°undelibet	undique	°undiquam	aliunde
destination	hūc hōc °hōrsum	istūc istōc °istōrsum	illūc illōc °illōrsum	eō	eōdem	sīquō	nēquō	nusquam °nūllōrsum	numquō	ecquō	quōnam	quō quōrsum	quōcumque quōquō °quōrsumcumque	aliquō quōpiam °aliquōvorsum	quōvīs quōlibet	quōque	quōquam	aliō aliōrsum
means, way, path, place	hāc	istāc	illāc	eā	eādem	sīquā	nēquā	nēquāquam haudquāquam	numquā	ecquā	quānam	quā	quācumque quāquā	aliquā	quāvīs quālibet	quāque	°quāquam ūllā	aliā
distance	hāctenus	°istātenus °istāctenus	°illātenus °illāctenus	eātenus				nūllātenus		°ecquātenus	°quātenusnam	quātenus	°quātenuscumque °quāquātenus	aliquātenus quādantenus	°quātenusvīs °quātenuslibet		ūllātenus	aliātenus
reason	°hācpropter °hōccircā	°istāpropter	°illāpropter	eāpropter eōcircā				°nullāpropter °nullōcircā				cūr quāpropter quōcircā quārē		°quādampropter		°quōquecircā		°aliāpropter
manner	hōc modō	istō modō	illō modō	ita sīc eō modō	item itidem	sīquī	nēquī nē ut	nihil nihilō neutiquam °neutī̆que nēquīquam nē quidem nūllō modō	numquī	ecquī	utinam	ut prout quī quō modō quōmodo quemadmodum quiter quārē	utcumque utut proutcumque quōmodocumque °quemadmodumcumque	quī quōdam modō aliquō modō	quōmodolibet	utīque	°utiquam °quīquam ūllō modō	aliter aliōquī alterō/aliō modō
time	†num nunc		ōlim	tum tunc	simul	sīquandō̆	nēquandō̆	numquam	°numquandō̆	ecquandō̆	quandōnam	quandō̆ ‡cum	quandōcumque quandōque cumque °quandōnē °quandōquandō °cumcumque	quondam aliquandō̆	°quandōlibet	quandōque	umquam	aliās
quantity				tam	†tamen †tandem							quam	quamcumque †quamquam	aliquam	quamvīs quamlibet	quamque
size				tantus	tantusdem							quantus	quantuscumque quantusquantus	aliquantus	quantusvīs quantuslibet	quantusque
quality				tālis						°ecquālis	quālisnam	quālis	quāliscumque quālisquālis	aliquālis	quālislibet	quālisque
number				tot	totidem						°quotnam °quotinam	quot	quotquot quotcumque	aliquot	quotlibet
order/fractional				totus								quotus	°quotuscumque	°aliquotus	°quotuslibet	°quotusque °quotusquisque
repetition				totiēns				nullotiēns				quotiēns	quotiēnscumque	aliquotiēns	quotiēnslibet	quotiēnsque °quotiēnsquisque
† Turned conjunction with original meaning somewhat changed ° Rare ‡ Only used as a conjunction, not as an interrogative.

Descendants

• Asturian: (obsolete) cuán (“so many”)
• French: que (“than, as”)
• Italian: ca (“than, that”)
• Neapolitan: ca (“than, that”)
• Old Galician-Portuguese: quan; ca
  • Galician: can (“how”); ca (“than”)
  • Portuguese: quão (“how, as”); ca (“than”) (northern)
• Romanian: ca (“than, as”)
• Romansh: ca (“than”)
• Sicilian: ca (“than, that”)
• Spanish: cuan (“how”)

Etymology 2

Inherited from Proto-Italic *kʷām, see quī (relative pronoun and interrogative adjective).

Pronoun

quam

1. (relative) accusative singular feminine of quī

Determiner

quam

1. (interrogative) accusative singular feminine of quī

Etymology 3

Analogically reshaped from Proto-Italic *kʷim, see quem.

Pronoun

quam

1. (interrogative) accusative singular feminine of quis

Alternative forms

• quem (Old Latin)

References

• “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, 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)
    
• Dizionario Latino, Olivetti
• quam in Ramminger, Johann (15 March 2026 (last accessed)), 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)

Middle Dutch

Verb

quam

1. first/third-person singular past indicative of cōmen

Middle English

Pronoun

quam

1. (Northern) alternative form of whom (“who, whom”, accusative)

Old High German

Verb

quam

1. first/third-person singular preterite indicative of quëman

Old Saxon

Verb

quam

1. first/third-person singular preterite indicative of kuman