adverb
cūr
cūr (not comparable)
Classical[ˈkuːr]Ecclesiastical[ˈkur]
№ 404 of the 1,000 commonest wordsMille Verba core vocabulary
Meaning
- not comparablewhy; for what reason; wherefore; to what purpose; from what motive
Cur humi iaces?
Why are you lying on the ground?Cur ante tubam tremor occupat artus?
Why before the trumpet [of war], fear seizes your limbs?29 BCE – 19 BCE, Vergilius, Aeneis 11.424
In the readers how our graded readers gloss it
why
cūr — in Seneca, ch. II
Choosing the right word Döderlein's Latin Synonyms
Cur · Quare
Cur (from quare? or κῶς;) serves both for actual questions, and for interrogative forms of speech; whereas quare serves for those questions only, to which we expect an answer. (vi. 93.)
Phrases from Meissner's Latin Phrase-Book
- quid causae fuit cur...?
- how came it that...?
cūr (old orthog. quor; cf. Vel. Long. p. 2236 P.; and in MSS. sometimes cor, v. Lachm. ad Lucr. II. p. 171 sq.), adv. contr. from quare; cf. Vel. Long. p. 2231 P. and the letter C; acc. to Voss, Etym. s. h. v.; Analog. 4, 21, and Hand, Turs. II. p. 175, from cui rei; cf.:
quoi rei, Plaut. Poen. 2, 33, = quam ob rem, I. for what reason, wherefore, why, to what purpose, from what motive.
I. Rel.:
duae causae sunt, cur tu frequentior in isto officio esse debeas quam nos, Cic. Fam. 15, 20, 2; so, causae, cur, Quint. 11, 3, 16; and: ea causa, cur, id. 2, 3, 11: non fuit causa, cur, Cic. Rosc. Com. 16, 49; cf. id. Clu. 61, 169; so, causa non esset, cur, id. N. D. 3, 4, 9: causa nulla est, cur, id. Rosc. Am. 50, 146; id. de Or. 2, 45, 189: nihil est causae, cur, Quint. 11, 3, 59: quae causa est, cur? etc., Cic. Lael. 13, 48: quid est causae, cur, etc., id. Fl. 2, 5; id. de Or. 3, 48, 185; id. Fam. 2, 13, 2: negare et adferre rationem cur negarent, id. ib. 6, 8, 1: id satis magnum esse argumentum dixisti, cur esse deos confiteremur, id. N. D. 1, 23, 62; so after argumenta, id. ib. 3, 4, 10; id. Div. 1, 3, 5: est vero cur quis Junonem laedere nolit, Ov. M. 2, 518; and with a negative: neque est, cur, etc., Plaut. Stich. 1, 1, 51: non tamen est, cur, Ov. H. 10, 144.- -And in dependent questions: quid est, cur tu in isto loco sedeas? Cic. Clu. 53, 147; id. Fin. 1, 10, 34; Liv. 21, 43, 12 et saep.: ne cui sit vestrum mirum, cur, etc., Ter. Heaut. prol. 1 al.: miror, cur me accusas, Cic. Fam. 7, 27, 1; 5, 12, 30; id. Phil. 2, 20, 49 (v. miror, admiror, etc.): quā in re primum illud reprehendo et accuso, cur, etc., Cic. Verr. 2, 3, 7, § 16: quod me saepe accusas, cur hunc meum casum tam graviter feram, id. Att. 3, 13, 2; 3, 12, 1; id. Sest. 37, 80; Hor. C. 1, 33, 3: consules invasit, cur silerent, Tac. A. 6, 4.—B. Pregn., = cujus causā, propter quod, on account of which, by reason of which:
quid ergo accidit, cur consilium mutarem? Cic. Fam. 2, 16, 10: quid obstat, cur non verae fiant, Ter. And. 1, 1, 76: fecerit aliquid Philippus, cur adversus eum ... hoc decerneremus: quid Perseus meruit... cur soli omnium hostes ei simus? Liv. 41, 24, 11 Weissenb. ad loc.: Caedicius negare, se commissurum, cur sibi ... quisquam imperium finiret, id. 5, 46, 6; 10, 18, 14; Suet. Calig. 15; Ov. Am. 1, 3, 2: quid Aristides commisisset, cur tantā poenā dignus duceretur, Nep. Arist. 1, 3: multa quidem dixi, cur excusatus abirem, Hor. Ep. 1, 9, 7.—II. Interrog.: Ag. Quor mi haec irata est? Mi. Quor haec irata est tibi? Quor ego id curem? Plaut. Poen. 1, 2, 143 sq.:
quor perdis adulescentem nobis? quor amat? Quor potat? Ter. Ad. 1, 1, 36 sq.; cf.: quid agis? quor te is perditum? id. And. 1, 1, 107: quor non introëo in nostram domum? Plaut. Am. 1, 1, 253; Cic. Fam. 2, 18, 3: quorsum tan dem, aut cur ista quaeris? id. Leg. 1, 1, 4: Er. Jube tibi agnum huc adferri propere pinguem. He. Quor? Er. Ut sacrufices, Plaut. Capt. 4, 2, 82: Me. Non possum. Ch. Quor non? Ter. Heaut. 1, 1, 111: cur ego plebeios magistratus ... video, etc., Liv. 2, 34, 9; 6, 15, 12.—In the poets sometimes placed after one or more words of a clause: stratege noster, quor hic cessat cantharus? Plaut. Stich. 5, 4, 28: obsequium ventris mihi perniciosius est cur? Hor. S. 2, 7, 104; 2, 3, 187.—B. Esp.
1. Pregn.
a. Implying censure, indignation, remonstrance, etc.:
quor id aussu's facere? Plaut. Ps. 1, 3, 114: cur es ausus subigitare, etc., id. Mil. 5, 9; id. Men. 3, 2, 28: sed quid ego? quor me excrucio? quor me macero? Ter. And. 5, 3, 15: cur imperium illi, aut cur illo modo prorogatum est, Cic. Att. 7, 3, 4; id. Div. 2, 30, 65: cur me querelis exanimas tuis? Hor. C. 2, 17, 1.—b. Implying grief, sorrow, and, with negatives, desire, etc.: eheu me miserum, quor non aut istaec mihi Aetas et formast, etc., Ter. Hec. 1, 1, 17:
heu me miserum, cur senatum cogor reprehendere? Cic. Phil. 7, 4, 14; id. Fam. 2, 7, 5; id. Att. 2, 19, 1: cur ego tecum non sum? id. ib. 16, 6, 2.—c. With potential subj., in excusing, deprecating censure, etc.:
quor ego apud te mentiar? Plaut. Poen. 1, 1, 24; id. Most. 2, 2, 24: cur hunc tam temere quisquam ab officio discessurum judicaret? Caes. B. G. 1, 40: pro urbis salute, cur non omnibus facultatibus, quas habemus, utamur, Planc. ap. Cic. Fam. 10, 23, 15; Cic. Cael. 29, 68 al.—2. Emphatic after si, cum, etc., implying a logical conclusion:
tum id si falsum fuerat, filius quor non refellit? Ter. Phorm. 2, 3, 53: nam, si res publica defenditur, cur ea consule isto ipso defensa non est? Cic. Att. 7, 3, 4; cf.: fac esse distentam ... cur tam multos deos nihil agere patitur? id. N. D. 3, 39, 93: cur autem quidquam ignoraret animus hominis, si esset deus? id. ib. 1, 11, 28; Nep. Eum. 11, 4; Ov. F. 1, 257.—3. Strengthened by particles of inference: nam, enim, igitur, etc.: Am. Pestis te tenet. So. Nam quor istuc Dicis? Plaut. Am. 2, 1, 31:
nam cur me miseram verberas? id. Aul. 1, 1, 3: quor simulas igitur? Ter. And. 1, 1, 21: cur enim, inquies, etc., Cic. Ac. 2, 17, 55; Suet. Calig. 34; id. Claud. 4; v. Hand, Turs. II. pp. 175- 183.Charlton Lewis's shorter dictionary for students: the same scholarship in plain, modern definitions.
cūr or (older) quōr, adv.
quoi + rei.
I. I. Interrog., why? wherefore? for what reason? quor amat? T.: Me. Non possum. Ch. Quor non? T.: cur ego plebeios magistratūs ... video? etc., L.: Obsequium ventris mihi perniciosius est cur? H. —Implying dissatisfaction: Sed quid ego? quor me excrucio? T.: Cur me querelis exanimas tuis? H.: Eheu me miserum, quor non aut istaec mihi Aetas et formast, etc., T.: cur ego tecum non sum?: quor simulas igitur? T.: cur enim, inquies, etc.—With potential subj., in excuse or deprecating censure: cur aliquos amitteret? etc., Cs.: ‘at propinquis placuit.’ Cur non placeret, cum, etc. —Implying a logical conclusion: animo si isto eras, cur non cecidisti, etc., N.—
II. II. Relat., for what reason, wherefore, why, to what purpose, from what motive: duae causae sunt, cur tu debeas, etc.: causa nulla est, cur: Est vero cur quis nolit, etc.? is there any reason why? O.: quid est, cur tu sedeas?: ne cui sit vestrum mirum, cur, etc., T.: demiror, cur dicas, at your saying.—On account of which, by reason of which, wherefore, that: Quid obstat, quor non fiant, T.: Erat nihil cur properato opus esset: en cur arator factus sit: quid sibi (Caesar) vellet, cur veniret? etc., what did he want, that he should come for it? etc., Cs.: ne doleas, cur tibi iunior paeniteat, complaining that, etc., H.: superest, cur vivere sustineam, proles, for whose sake, O.
Origins
From Old Latin quūr, quōr, from Proto-Italic *kʷōr, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷór (“where”) (with pre-resonant and monosyllabic lengthening), from *kʷos (“interrogative determiner”) + *-r (“adverbial suffix”). For other Indo-European cognates, compare: * Sanskrit कर्हि॑ (kárhi, “when”), Proto-Germanic *hwar (“where”) < *kʷór * Old English hwǣr (“where”), Old High German hwār (“where”) < *kʷēr * Albanian kur (“when”), Lithuanian kur̃ (“where, whither”), Armenian ուր (ur, “where”) < *kúr * Norwegian Nynorsk kvar (“where”), Norwegian Nynorsk kor (“where”), Norwegian Bokmål hvor (“where”) < Old Norse hvar < Proto-Germanic *hwar < Proto-Indo-European *kʷór, from *kʷos (“which”) See also quirquir (“wherever(?)”).