quispiam

Latin

Etymology

Univerbation of quis + -pe + iam.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈkʷɪs.pi.ãː]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈkʷis.pi.am]

Pronoun

quispiam (feminine quaepiam, neuter quidpiam or quippiam); interrogative/indefinite pronoun with an indeclinable portion

1. (chiefly in the positive) anybody, anything
2. (chiefly in the positive) somebody, something

Declension

Interrogative/indefinite pronoun with an indeclinable portion.

	singular				plural
	masculine	feminine	neuter		masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	quispiam	quaepiam	quidpiam quippiam		quīpiam queipiam1 quēspiam1	quaepiam quēspiam1	quaepiam
genitive	cuiuspiam quoiuspiam1				quōrumpiam quiumpiam1	quārumpiam quiumpiam1	quōrumpiam quiumpiam1
dative	cuipiam quoipiam1 quoī / quoeipiam1 quoiī / quoieipiam1				quibuspiam quīspiam queispiam1
accusative	quempiam	quampiam	quidpiam quippiam		quōspiam quēspiam1	quāspiam quēspiam1	quaepiam
ablative	quōpiam quīpiam2	quāpiam quīpiam2	quōpiam quīpiam2		quibuspiam quīspiam queispiam1
vocative	—				—

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

• The plural is very rare.
• The feminine nominative singular quaepiam may be unattested in Classical Latin as a pronoun (it is found as an adjective; see below).

Adjective

quispiam (feminine quaepiam, neuter quodpiam); relative/interrogative determiner with an indeclinable portion

1. any
2. some

Declension

Relative/interrogative determiner with an indeclinable portion.

	singular				plural
	masculine	feminine	neuter		masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	quispiam	quaepiam	quodpiam		quīpiam queipiam1	quaepiam
genitive	cuiuspiam quoiuspiam1				quōrumpiam	quārumpiam	quōrumpiam
dative	cuipiam quoipiam1 quoī / quoeipiam1 quoiī / quoieipiam1				quibuspiam quīspiam queispiam1
accusative	quempiam	quampiam	quodpiam		quōspiam	quāspiam	quaepiam
ablative	quōpiam quīpiam2	quāpiam quīpiam2	quōpiam quīpiam2		quibuspiam quīspiam queispiam1
vocative	—				—

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

• The plural is very rare.

Quotations

• Marcus Tullius Cicero, in a letter at Varro. In: M. T. Ciceronis Epistolae ad Atticum, ad Quintum Fratrem, ad M. Brutum, et quae vulgo ad Familiares dicuntur, temporis ordine dispositae. Tomus IX. – M. Tullius Cicero's sämmtliche Briefe, übersetzt und erläutert von C. M. Wieland. Neunter Band, Wien und Triest, 1814, p. 232:

  Quamquam tum quidem vel aliae quaepiam rationes, honestas nobiset curas, et actiones darent: nunc autem quid est, sine his cur vivere velimus?

• Apulejus Madaurensis, Florida. In: Apuleii opera omnia ex editione oudendorpiana, vol. II., London, 1825, p. 922:

  Satis, inquit, mihi fuerit mercedis, Thales sapiens,⁴ si id, quod a me didicisti, cum proferre ad quospiam coeperis, tibi non asciveris,⁵ sed ejus inventi me potius, quam alium, repertorem praedicaveris.⁶

  4 Post inquit voces Th. sapiens ponit Floridus. Id.—5 Abest non a Coll. Voss. Id.—6 Praedicaveris. Pith. praedicaris. Ed. Vic. praedicatis. Id.

  • The wise Thales replied, It will be a sufficient reward to me, if you do not publish what I have taught you as a discovery of your own, but fairly declare that I am the inventor.
  • 'It is enough recompense,' replied Thales the wise, 'if you will refrain from claiming as your own the theory I have taught you, whenever you begin to impart it to others, and will proclaim me and no other as the discoverer of this new law.'

See also

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			°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

Further reading

• “quispiam”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “quispiam”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “quispiam”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.