quelcom

Catalan

FWOTD – 21 January 2013

Etymology

From Old Catalan queacom, queucom, calcom, caucom, from Latin quale-cumque or quiddam-cumque, although Spitzer suggests quale-quomodo. Compare Occitan calacom, quezacom, queacom.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [kəlˈkɔm]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [kelˈkɔm]

Pronoun

quelcom

1. something

   Synonyms: algo, alguna cosa, res, qualque cosa

   • 1919, Claudi Planas i Font, En Pere i altres contes

     ...tenia quelcom de brutal l'espectacle d'aquell home decrèpit...

     ...there was something brutal about the spectacle of that decrepit man...

2. (in questions) anything

Usage notes

In colloquial speech alguna cosa, res or the nonstandard Castilianism algo are more common.

Adverb

quelcom

1. (literary) a bit, somewhat, rather

Further reading

• “quelcom” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “quelcom”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
• “quelcom” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “quelcom” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.