ullus

Latin

Etymology

From Proto-Italic *oinelos, diminutive of Proto-Italic *oinos (“one”), akin to Latin ūnus, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *óynos.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈuːl.lʊs]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈul.lus]

Determiner

ūllus (feminine ūlla, neuter ūllum); first/second-declension determiner (pronominal declension)

1. (chiefly in the negative) any
   • 63 BCE, Cicero, Catiline Orations Oratio in Catilinam Prima in Senatu Habita.22:

     Quamquam quid loquor? Tē ut ūlla rēs frangat, tū ut umquam tē corrigās, tū ut ūllam fugam meditēre, tū ut ūllum exsilium cōgitēs?

     And yet, what am I saying? That you might be broken by any [number of] things, that you might ever correct yourself, that you might contemplate any escape, that you might think of any exile?
     (Note how the determiners agree in case, number and gender with the words they modify: ūlla rēs, accusative plural neuter; ūllam fugam, accusative singular feminine; ūllum exilium, accusative singular neuter.)

   • c. 45 BCE, Cicero, Tusculan Disputations 2.7:

     lectionem sine ulla delectatione negligo.

     A reading without any enjoyment.

Usage notes

• Ūllus is usually found in negative sentences. It corresponds to aliquis (“some”) in affirmations.
• Ūllus (“any”) is typically an adjective and quisquam (“any(one)”) a pronoun, but the opposite usages are also found. In particular, with masculine nouns that referred to persons, Cicero seems to have preferred quisquam over ūllus in the nominative, genitive, and dative cases (e.g. quisquam scrīptor, cuiusquam scrīptōris, cuiquam scrīptōrī), and used both quemquam and ūllum in the accusative (e.g. quemquam scrīptōrem, ūllum scrīptōrem).

Declension

First/second-declension adjective (pronominal declension).

	singular				plural
	masculine	feminine	neuter		masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	ūllus	ūlla	ūllum		ūllī	ūllae	ūlla
genitive	ūllī̆us ūllī				ūllōrum	ūllārum	ūllōrum
dative	ūllī				ūllīs
accusative	ūllum	ūllam	ūllum		ūllōs	ūllās	ūlla
ablative	ūllō	ūllā	ūllō		ūllīs
vocative	ūlle	ūlla	ūllum		ūllī	ūllae	ūlla

ūllī in the genitive singular is rare but attested in Old Latin texts such as Truculentus by Plautus

Derived terms

• nūllus

Related terms

Latin correlatives ^(edit)

type	demonstrative			realis		irrealis		interrogative				indefinite					alternative
	proximal	medial	distal	anaphoric	identity	conditional	negative		indefinite	irrelative / emphatic	relative		irrelative	free choice	universal	negative polarity
basic	hic	iste istic	ille illic	is	ipse īdem	sīquis	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							neuter			uternam	uter	utercumque	alteruter	utervīs uterlibet	uterque		alter
place	hīc	istīc	illīc	ibī̆	ibī̆dem	sīcubī	nusquam nūllibī			ubinam	ubī̆	ubī̆cumque ubiubī̆	alicubī̆ uspiam	ubivīs ubilibet	ubīque	usquam	alibī aliās
source	hinc	ºistim istinc	ºillim illinc	inde	indidem	sīcunde	°nūllunde			undenam	ºcum unde	undecumque undeunde	alicunde	°undelibet	undique	°undiquam	aliunde
destination	hūc hōc °hōrsum	istūc istōc °istōrsum	illūc illōc °illōrsum	eō	eōdem	sīquō	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	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	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	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
multiplication				totuplex							quotuplex
proportion				°totuplus							quotuplus
† Turned conjunction with original meaning somewhat changed ° Rare ‡ Only used as a conjunction, not as an interrogative.

Further reading

• “ullus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “ullus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “ullus”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894), Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • without doubt, beyond all doubt: sine dubio (not sine ullo dubio)
    
  • without any hesitation; without the least scruple: sine ulla dubitatione
    
  • indisputably; incontestably: sine (ulla) controversia
    

Norwegian Nynorsk

Noun

ullus f (definite singular ullusa, indefinite plural ullus or ullyser, definite plural ullusene or ullysene)

1. alternative spelling of ull-lus