LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
adverb

nēquīquam

nēquīquam (not comparable)
Classical[neːˈkʷiː.kʷãː]Ecclesiastical[neˈkʷiː.kʷam]

Meaning

  1. not comparableIn vain, vainly, needlessly, uselessly, fruitlessly, pointlessly; to no purpose or effect, without ground or reason
    et mūtam nequīquam alloquerer cinerem.And (to) talk in vain to silent ash.Gaius Valerius Catullus, Catullus 101:
    [...] an tē, genitor, cum fulmina torquēs, / nēquīquam horrēmus [...].“Or when you hurl thunderbolts, Father [Jupiter], [do we] tremble vainly?”29 BCE – 19 BCE, Vergilius, Aeneis 4.208–209

Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers

Choosing the right word Döderlein's Latin Synonyms

Frustra · Nequidquam · Incassum · Irritus

1. Frustra (from ψύθος) means in vain, with reference to the subject, whose expectation and calculations have been disappointed; whereas nequidquam (that is, in nequidquam, in nihil), to no purpose, refers to the nullity in which the thing has ended. 2. Hence frustra, used adjectively, refers to the person; whereas irritus, the actual adjective, refers to the thing. 3. Frustra and nequidquam denote merely a failure, without imputing a fault, like μάτην; whereas incassum involves the accessory notion of a want of consideration, by which the failure might have been calculated upon, and foreseen, as in attempting any thing manifestly or proverbially impossible, εἴς κενόν. (iii. 100.)

nēquīquam (so in the best MSS.; not nequicquam; v. Neue, Formenl. 2, p. 642 sq.; Plaut. Trin. 440 Brix.; id. Most. 242 Lorenz), adv. ne-quiquam; cf.: nequiquam significare idem quod frustra, plurimis auctorum exemplis manifestum est, Paul. ex. Fest. p. 162 fin. Müll.,
I. in vain, to no purpose, fruitlessly: ne istuc nequiquam dixeris tam indignum dictum in me, Plaut. As. 3, 3, 108: qui ipse sibi sapiens prodesse non quit, nequiquam sapit, Enn. ap. Cic. Fam. 7, 6, 2 (Trag. v. 310 Vahl.): et sero et nequiquam pudet, Cic. Quint. 25, 79: nequiquam alicujus auxilium implorare, Caes. B. C. 1, 1: ut non nequiquam tantae virtutis homines judicari deberet ausos esse transire latissimum flumen, without ground, without reason, id. B. G. 2, 27: nequiquam deus abscidit oceano terras, to no purpose, Hor. C. 1, 3, 21: causas nequiquam nectis inanes, Verg. A. 9, 219; id. G. 1, 403; Ov. M. 4, 78; 5, 33; 438 al.: frustra ac nequiquam, Cat. 77, 1: sed nequiquam frustra, etc., App. M. 8, p. 208, 41.—Absol. in exclamation: nequiquam! Liv. 42, 64, 4.—Esp., without punishment, with impunity: ne istuc nequiquam dixeris tam indignum dictum in me, Plaut. As. 3, 3, 108.

Quick answers

What does nēquīquam mean in Latin?
nēquīquam, a adverb, means “In vain, vainly, needlessly, uselessly, fruitlessly, pointlessly; to no purpose or effect, without ground or reason”.
How do you pronounce nēquīquam?
In classical Latin, [neːˈkʷiː.kʷãː]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [neˈkʷiː.kʷam].