unqua

Italian

Alternative forms

• unque (also archaic)

Etymology

From Latin unquam (“ever, at any time”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈun.kwa/
• Rhymes: -unkwa
• Hyphenation: ùn‧qua

Adverb

unqua (archaic)

1. never
2. ever
   • early-mid 1310s–mid 1310s, Dante Alighieri, “Canto V”, in Purgatorio [Purgatory]‎^[1], lines 49–51; republished as Giorgio Petrocchi, editor, La Commedia secondo l'antica vulgata [The Commedia according to the ancient vulgate]‎^[2], 2^nd revised edition, Florence: publ. Le Lettere, 1994:

     Guarda s’alcun di noi unqua vedesti,
     sì che di lui di là novella porti:
     deh, perché vai? deh, perché non t’arresti?

     See if you ever saw any of us, so that you bear news of them to the other side; ah, why do you go on? ah, why don't you stay?