quicumque

Latin

Alternative forms

• quīcunque
• quī ... cumque (with tmesis/diacope)

Etymology

From quī +‎ -cumque; quīcunque is a later development reflecting the assimilated pronunciation.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [kʷiːˈkʊŋ.kʷɛ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [kʷiˈkum.kʷe]

Pronoun

quīcumque (feminine quaecumque, neuter quodcumque); relative pronoun with an indeclinable portion

1. whoever, whosoever; whatever, whatsoever
   • 43 BCE, Asinius Pollio, in Cicero, Epistulae ad Familiares 10.31.3:

     Ita si id agitur, ut rursus in potestate omnia unius sint, quicumque is est, ei me profiteor inimicum.

     If therefore events are so developing as to put all power again in the hands of one man, whosoever that man is, I declare myself his foe.

   • c. 40 BCE, Gaius Sallustius Crispus, Bellum Jugurthinum 103:

     Eos ad Marium ac deinde, si placeat, Romam legatos ire iubet; agundarum rerum et quocumque modo belli componendi licentiam ipsis permittit.

     These he ordered to go as envoys to Marius and then, if it seemed advisable, to Rome, giving them complete freedom of action and permission to make peace in whatever manner.

   • c. 110 BCE – c. 25 BCE, Cornelius Nepos, De viris illustribus XIV. Datames 14.10:

     Namque is pollicitus est regi se eum interfecturum, si ei rex permitteret, ut, quodcumque vellet, liceret impune facere, fidemque de ea re more Persarum dextra dedisset.

     For he promised the king that he would kill him [Datames], if the king would allow him to do whatever he wanted with impunity and would give him a pledge to that effect with his right hand after the manner of the Persians.

   • 30 BCE – 16 BCE, Propertius, Elegiae 4.1:

     Hoc quodcumque vides, hospes, qua maxima Roma est, / ante Phrygem Aenean collis et herba fuit

     This, stranger, whatsoever you see where Rome the greatest stands, / was hill and grass before Phrygian Aeneas

   • c. 347 CE – 420 CE, Hieronymus, Vulgate Psalm 113:11 [115:3]:

     Deus autem noster in caelo, omnia quaecumque voluit fecit.

     But our God is in heaven, and whatsoever he has willed, he has done.

Usage notes

• quīcumque is used both adjectivally and substantivally.
• Cato is cited with the archaic plural form quescumque (from ques).

Declension

Relative/interrogative determiner with an indeclinable portion.

	singular				plural
	masculine	feminine	neuter		masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	quīcumque	quaecumque	quodcumque		quīcumque queicumque1	quaecumque
genitive	cuiuscumque quoiuscumque1				quōrumcumque	quārumcumque	quōrumcumque
dative	cuicumque quoicumque1 quoī / quoeicumque1 quoiī / quoieicumque1				quibuscumque quīscumque queiscumque1
accusative	quemcumque	quamcumque	quodcumque		quōscumque	quāscumque	quaecumque
ablative	quōcumque quīcumque2	quācumque quīcumque2	quōcumque quīcumque2		quibuscumque quīscumque queiscumque1
vocative	—				—

¹Republican Latin.
²Quī is occasionally used as an ablative singular, whence quīcum (“with whom”); it was originally preferred in instrumental meanings.

Related terms

Latin correlatives ^(edit)

type	demonstrative			anaphoric	identity	interrogative or basic relative	indefinite							alternative
	proximal	medial	distal				relative	irrelative	free choice	universal	positive polarity	negative polarity	negative
basic	hic	iste istic	ille illic	is	ᵉipse īdem	quis quī	quīcumque quisquis	quīdam aliquis, quis aliquī, quī nesciō quis	quīvis quīlibet	quisque	quispiam	quisquam hīlum ūllus	nēmō̆ nihil nūllus	alius
ᵇcomparative	huiusmodī ᵉhuiuscemodī	istī̆usmodī ᵉistī̆uscemodī	illī̆usmodī ᵉillī̆uscemodī	eiusmodī	eiusdemmodī	cuiusmodī	cuiusmodīcumque	alicuiusmodī cuiusdammodī	cuiusvīsmodī	cuiusquemodī		cuiusquammodī	°nūllī̆usmodī	alterī̆usmodī alīusmodī
dual						uter	utercumque	alteruter	utervīs uterlibet	uterque			neuter	alter
place	hīc	istīc	illīc	ibī̆	ibī̆dem	ubī̆	ubī̆cumque °ubiubī̆	alicubī̆	ubivīs ubilibet	ubīque	uspiam	usquam °ubīquam	nusquam nūllibī	alibī aliās
source	hinc	istinc °istim	illinc °illim	inde ªim	indidem	unde °cum	undecumque °undeunde	alicunde	°undelibet	undique		°undiquam	°nūllunde	aliunde
destination	hūc hōc °hōrsum	istūc istō, istōc °istōrsum	illūc illō, illōc °illōrsum	eō	eōdem	quō quōrsum	quōcumque quōquō °quōrsumcumque	aliquō °aliquōvorsum	quōvīs quōlibet	quōque	quōpiam uspiam	usquam quōquam ªūllō	nusquam ªnihilō ªnūllō °nūllōrsum	aliō aliōrsum
means, way, path, place	hāc	ªistā istāc	ªillā illāc	eā	eādem	quā quārē	quācumque quāquā	aliquā	quāvīs quālibet	°quāque	°quāpiam	°quāquam ªūllā	nēquāquam ªnūllā ᵉhaudquāquam	aliā
ᵇdistance	hāctenus	°istātenus °istāctenus	°illātenus °illāctenus	eātenus		quātenus	°quātenuscumque °quāquātenus	aliquātenus quādantenus	°quātenusvīs °quātenuslibet			ūllātenus	nūllātenus	aliātenus
ᵇreason	°hācpropter °hōccircā	°istāpropter	°illāpropter	eāpropter proptereā eōcircā idcircō ideō		ᶜcūr quāpropter quōcircā quārē †quia								°aliāpropter
ᵇmanner	hōc modō	istō modō	illō modō	ita ᵉsīc eō modō	item itidem eādem operā eōdem modō	ut prout °quem quō modō quōmodo ᵉquemadmodum	utcumque °utut °proutcumque quōmodocumque °ᵉquemadmodumcumque	quōdam modō aliquō modō	quōmodolibet	utīque quōque modō	quōpiam modō	°utiquam ūllō modō	nihil neutiquam °neutī̆que nūllō modō	aliter alterō/aliō modō
instrument, matter, knowledge						quī ᵉquīn °quīcum	quīcumque	quī °aliquī	°quīlibet	°quīque	°quia	°quīquam	nihilō nēquīquam	aliōquī ᵉaliōquīn
time	†num nunc		ōlim	tum tunc	simul	quandō̆ ‡cum	quandōcumque quandōque cumque °quandōnē °ᵉquandōquandō °cumcumque	quondam aliquandō̆	°quandōlibet	quandōque	†quoniam	umquam	numquam	aliās
quantity				tam	†tamen †tandem	quam	quamcumque †quamquam	aliquam	quamvīs quamlibet	quamque
size				tantus	tantusdem	quantus	quantuscumque quantusquantus	aliquantus	quantusvīs quantuslibet	quantusque
quality				tālis		quālis	quāliscumque quālisquālis	aliquālis	quālislibet	quālisque
number				tot	totidem	quot	quotquot quotcumque	aliquot	quotlibet
order/fractional				totus		quotus	°quotuscumque	°aliquotus	°quotuslibet	°quotusque °quotusquisque
repetition				totiēns		quotiēns	quotiēnscumque	aliquotiēns	quotiēnslibet	quotiēnsque °quotiēnsquisque			°nūllotiēns
† Turned conjunction with original meaning somewhat changed ° Rare ‡ Only used as a conjunction, not as an interrogative. ª Used almost exclusively to form locutions or compounds. ᵇ All locutions ending in modī, modō, propter, circā or tenus can be univerbalized and vice versa, except de, secus and if another suffix, such as -cumque, -que or -libet, follows them, quemadmodum can also come as a locution in "quem ad modum", quārē can even also come separately especially if accompanied by a preposition, such as dē. ᶜ Used purely and simply as an interrogative in direct questions (then irrelative), its relative meaning is somewhat lost, if it ever had one. ᵉemphatic

Descendants

• → English: Quicumque vult, Quicunque vult

References

• “quīcumque (or -cunque), quaecumque, quodcumque”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “quīcumque (not -cunque), quaecumque, quodcumque”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “quīcumquĕ (-cunquĕ), quæc-, quodc-”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette, page 1298.