quomodo

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English[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Latin quōmodo (“In what way?”).

Noun[edit]

quomodo (plural quomodos)

  1. (obsolete) The means, way, or method (of doing something).
    • 1749, Henry Fielding, “The Conclusion of the foregoing Adventure”, in The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume III, London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC, book VII, page 132:
      In a Word, to hint at no more Reaſons for his Conduct, Mr. Northerton was deſirous of departing that Evening, and nothing remained for him but to contrive the Quomodo, which appeared to be a Matter of ſome Difficulty.

Latin[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Univerbation of quō (“what”, abl. sg.) +‎ modō (“manner, way”, abl. sg.). /kō-/ variants first attested in Pompeii. /d/-less variants (through allegro-speech consonant elision or some kind of metanalysis) securely attested from mid-1st c. CE onwards. Forms in /-ī/ likely by analogy with cuius-/eiusmodī.

Pronunciation[edit]

Adverb[edit]

quōmodo (not comparable)

  1. (interrogative) in what manner or way?; how?
    1. (rhetorical) how is that possible (that)?
  2. in what condition or circumstances? how?
    Quōmodo tibi rēs sē habet? ― How's your business going along?
    1. Used in warnings, threats and exclamations.
      At scīn' quōmodo? ― You know what I'm gonna do?
      Sed quōmodo dissimulabat! ― But how he was faking it!
  3. (relative) in the same manner or way as; how, like
    1. (with the correlatives sīc or ita) in the manner in which, just as, just like
      • 1 cent. BC (curse tablet) CIL I2 1012 = CIL VI 140 = SIAtt-1, p. 82 = ILLRP 1144 = D 8749 = DefTab 139 = Kropp-01-04-04-03:
        Quōmodo mortuos, quī istīc sepultus est nec loquī nec sermōnāre potest, seic Rhodinē apud M(ārcum) Licinium Faustum mortua sit nec loquī nec sermōnāre possit
        Just like the dead man who's been buried here cannot speak nor talk [to anyone], so may Rhodine be dead for Marcus Licinius Faustus, nor be able to speak or talk [to him].
    2. (with subjunctive, introducing final clauses) by means of which, using which

Synonyms[edit]

Derived terms[edit]

Related terms[edit]

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

Descendants[edit]

(See also quōmodo et.)

  • >? Friulian: cemût
  • → English: quomodo

Reflexes of the late form cōmo:

References[edit]

  • “quōmodo” on page 1727 of the Oxford Latin Dictionary (2nd ed., 2012)
  • “quōmodō̆” in volume 8, column 1287, line 38 in the Thesaurus Linguae Latinae (TLL Open Access), Berlin (formerly Leipzig): De Gruyter (formerly Teubner), 1900–present
  • Daniela Urbanová (2016) “Alcune particolarità della comparazione (quomodo – sic, quemadmodum – sic, ita uti – sic) in latino volgare, con particolare attenzione alle defixiones”, in Graeco-Latina Brunensia‎[1], number 2, →DOI, →ISSN, pages 329–343

Further reading[edit]

  • “quomodo”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • quomodo in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
  • Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎[2], London: Macmillan and Co.
    • to detail the whole history of an affair: ordine narrare, quomodo res gesta sit
    • as the proverb says: ut or quod or quomodo aiunt, ut or quemadmodum dicitur
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