quispiam

Latin

Etymology

From quis + -pe + iam.

Pronunciation

(Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈkʷis.pi.am/, [ˈkʷɪs̠piä̃ˑ]

• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈkwis.pi.am/, [ˈkwispiäm]

Pronoun

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

1. anybody, anything
2. somebody, something

Declension

Relative/interrogative pronoun with an indeclinable portion.

Number	Singular				Plural
Case / Gender	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter		Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	quispiam quīpiam1	quaepiam quapiam2 quispiam	quidpiam quippiam		quīpiam1	quaepiam	quaepiam quapiam2
Genitive	cuiuspiam1				quōrumpiam	quārumpiam	quōrumpiam
Dative	cuipiam1				quibuspiam quīspiam1
Accusative	quempiam	quampiam quempiam	quidpiam quippiam		quōspiam	quāspiam	quaepiam quapiam2
Ablative	quōpiam quīpiam	quāpiam quīpiam	quōpiam quīpiam		quibuspiam quīspiam1

¹In Republican Latin or earlier, alternative spellings could be found for the following forms of quī/quis and its compounds: the masculine nominative singular or plural quī (old spelling quei), the genitive singular cuius (old spelling quoius), the dative singular cui (old spelling quoi or quoiei), the dative/ablative plural quīs (old spelling queis).
²When used as an indefinite word (pronoun or adjective), the feminine nominative singular and neuter nominative/accusative plural is usually qua (with short ă) instead of quae. Indefinite quă is generally only found directly after sī, nisi, num, or nē and may be considered to be either enclitic to the preceding word or (in Priscian's view) forming a compound with it; accordingly, sīqua, numqua, and nēqua are sometimes written together (as also are the masculines sīquis, numquis, and nēquis). The form quă is never used for the feminine plural, nor for any form of the relative pronoun or of the interrogative pronoun or adjective.

Adjective

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

1. any
2. some

Declension

Relative/interrogative pronoun with an indeclinable portion.

Number	Singular				Plural
Case / Gender	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter		Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	quispiam	quaepiam quapiam1	quodpiam		quīpiam2	quaepiam	quaepiam quapiam1
Genitive	cuiuspiam2				quōrumpiam	quārumpiam	quōrumpiam
Dative	cuipiam2				quibuspiam quīspiam2
Accusative	quempiam	quampiam	quodpiam		quōspiam	quāspiam	quaepiam quapiam1
Ablative	quōpiam	quāpiam	quōpiam		quibuspiam quīspiam2

¹When used as an indefinite word (pronoun or adjective), the feminine nominative singular and neuter nominative/accusative plural is usually qua (with short ă) instead of quae. Indefinite quă is generally only found directly after sī, nisi, num, or nē and may be considered to be either enclitic to the preceding word or (in Priscian's view) forming a compound with it; accordingly, sīqua, numqua, and nēqua are sometimes written together (as also are the masculines sīquis, numquis, and nēquis). The form quă is never used for the feminine plural, nor for any form of the relative pronoun or of the interrogative pronoun or adjective.
²In Republican Latin or earlier, alternative spellings could be found for the following forms of quī/quis and its compounds: the masculine nominative singular or plural quī (old spelling quei), the genitive singular cuius (old spelling quoius), the dative singular cui (old spelling quoi or quoiei), the dative/ablative plural quīs (old spelling queis).

Citations

• 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.'

Related terms

Latin correlatives ^(edit)

type	demonstrative			anaphoric	identity	interrogative/ relative	indefinite					negative	other
	proximal	medial	distal				relative	indefinite	universal	free choice	negative polarity
basic	hic	iste, istic	ille, illic	is	ipse, īdem	quis/quī	quisquis, quīcumque	quis, quī, quīdam, aliquis, aliquī, quispiam	quisque	quīvis, quīlibet	quisquam, ūllus, °aliquisquam	nēmō, nihil, nūllus	alius
dual						uter	utercumque	alteruter	uterque	utervīs, uterlibet		neuter	alter
place	hīc	istīc	illīc	ibī̆	ibī̆dem	ubī̆	ubiubi, ubī̆cumque	alicubī, uspiam	ubīque	ubivīs, ubilibet	usquam	nusquam, nūllibī	alibī, aliās
source	hinc	istinc	illinc	inde	indidem	unde	undecumque, undeunde	alicunde	undique	°undelibet			aliunde
destination	hūc, °hōrsum	istūc, °istōrsum	illūc, °illōrsum	eō	eōdem	quō, quōrsum	quōquō, quōcumque	aliquō, quōpiam, °aliquōvorsum		quōvīs, quōlibet	quōquam	nusquam, nūllōrsum	aliō, aliōrsum
method, means, path, place	hāc	istāc	illāc	eā	eādem	quā	quāquā, quācumque	aliquā	quāque	quāvīs, quālibet		nēquāquam, haudquāquam	aliā
manner	hōc modō	istō modō	illō modō	ita, sīc, eō modō	item, itidem	ut, quī, quō modō, quōmodo, quemadmodum	utut, utcumque, quōmodocumque	quī, quōdam modō, aliquō modō	utique	quōmodolibet	ūllō modō	nūllō modō	aliter, aliōquī, alterō/aliō modō
time	num, nunc		ōlim	tum, tunc	simul	quandō, ‡cum	cumque, quandōcumque, quandōque	quondam, aliquandō	quandōque	quandōlibet	umquam	numquam	aliās
quantity				tam	†tamen, †tandem	quam	†quamquam	aliquam		quamvīs, quamlibet
size				tantus	tantusdem	quantus	quantuscumque	aliquantus		quantusvīs, quantuslibet
quality				tālis		quālis	quālis, quāliscumque	aliquālis		quālislibet
number				tot	totidem	quot	quotquot, quotcumque	aliquot		quotlibet
order				totus		quotus	quotuscumque	aliquotus		quotuslibet
repetition				totiēns		quotiēns	quotiēnscumque	aliquotiēns		quotiēnslibet
multiplication				totuplex		quotuplex
† Turned conjunction with original meaning somewhat dissimulated ° Rare ‡only used as a conjunction, not as an interrogative

References

• “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.