adverb
quā
quā (not comparable)
Classical[ˈkʷaː]Ecclesiastical[ˈkʷaː]
№ 336 of the 1,000 commonest wordsMille Verba core vocabulary
Meaning
- not comparablewhere (on which side; at or in which place; in what direction; by what way)
quā... eā...
where... there... - not comparableas (in the capacity or character of)
ēns quā ēns
being as being - not comparablehow (in what way; by what method; to what degree or extent)
- indefinitenot comparableafter sī, nisi, num, nē: in any way, anyhow
hoc rēgnum dea gentibus esse – sī quā fāta sinant – iam tum tenditque fovetque. The goddess already aims and fondly hopes that this [city] – if in any way the fates allow it – [will] be the seat of ruling power over [all] nations.
[In other words, long before the founding of Rome the goddess Juno wanted Carthage to become the imperial city. See: Juno (mythology); Carthage.]29 BCE – 19 BCE, Vergilius, Aeneis 1.17–18
quā, adv. abl. fem. from qui,
I. on which side, at or in which place, in what direction, where, by what way (class.).
I. Lit., of place:
orasque Italicas omnis, quā adgreditur mare, sumus circumvecti, Plaut. Men. 2, 1, 12: fumus si quā exit foras, id. Aul. 2, 4, 22: jubet persequi, si quā queat reperire quae sustulerit, id. Cist. 1, 3, 35: regna mihi liquit Pelops, quā ponto ab Helles urgetur Isthmos, Poët. ap. Sen. Ep. 80, 7; cf. Cic. Or. 49, 163: ad omnes introitus, quā adiri poterat, id. Caecin. 8, 21: quo loco depulsus, Caecina, quā potuit, profectus est, id. ib. 8, 22: sum e proximo vicini fundo dejectus, quā adibam ad istum fundum, id. ib. 29, 82: in templum ipse nescio quā ascendit, id. Phil. 3, 8, 20: eādem, quā ceteri, fugere noluit, id. Div. 1, 54, 123: quā se parens persequeretur, id. Imp. Pomp. 9, 22: arx Athenarum, quā ad meridiem vergit, Nep. Cim. 2, 5: reliquum spatium, quā flumen intermittit, Caes. B. G. 1, 38: plurima quā silva est, Ov. M. 14, 361: complentur moenia ac tecta, quāque longissime prospectari poterat, i. e. as far as the eye could reach, Tac. A. 3, 1; Verg. A. 2, 753: quā te ducit via, dirige gressum, id. ib. 1, 401; 12, 507: oras, quā medius liquor Secernit Europen ab Afro, Hor. C. 3, 3, 46; 3, 30, 10; Ov. M. 1, 187: vagari, quā velit, wherever, wheresoever, as far as, Cic. de Or. 1, 16, 70: omnia, quā visus erat, constrata telis, armis, Sall. J. 101, 11; cf. Ov. M. 1, 241: quā murum ducturi erant, Liv. 1, 44; 4, 17; 5, 43: quā modo simulato metu cesserant, eā in veram fugam effusi, id. 6, 24, 11.— Rarely with antecedent in plur.: ad omnes introitus quā adire poterat, Cic. Caecin. 8, 21: vias relaxat, veniat quā sucus in herbas, Verg. G. 1, 90: viae, quā, id. A. 5, 590: duae erant viae, quā, etc., Nep. Eum. 8, 4. —II. Transf.
A. Partit.: quā . . . quā, partly . . . partly; as well . . . as; both . . . and:
mores rapere properant, quā sacrum, quā publicum, Plaut. Trin. 4, 3, 39: qui consectare quā maris quā feminas, id. Mil. 4, 2, 20; 4, 9, 15: ut si sunt quā suis quisque quā totius ordinis viribus, Liv. 2, 35, 4: omnia convestivit hederā, quā basim villae, quā intercolumnia, Cic. Q. Fr. 3, 1, 2, § 5: quā dominus, quā advocati, id. Att. 2, 19, 3; 9, 12, 1: quā de Buthrotiis, quā de Bruto, id. ib. 15, 18, 2: quā falsa, quā vera, Liv. 2, 45 et saep.: quā feminae, quā viri, Plin. Ep. 6, 33, 4.—B. As far as, in so far as (mostly post - Aug.):
statui non ultra attingere externa, nisi quā Romanis cohaerent rebus, Liv. 39, 48: Aegyptii ignem vocant masculum, quā ardet flamma, et feminam, quā lucet innoxius tactu, Sen. Q. N. 3, 12, 2: assumere in causam naturas eorum, quā competent, aut mitigare, quā repugnabunt, oportebit, Quint. 4, 1, 17; Tac. A. 6, 10; cf.: in praesentia non quā filius alicujus, sed quā homo, aestimatur, Dig. 35, 2, 63.— C. In what manner, how, by what method; to what degree or extent:
quominus ei liceat eādem illā facultate et copiā vagari, quā velit, Cic. de Or. 1, 16, 70: numquid tute prospexti tibi, Quid fieret? quā fieret? Ter. Ad. 4, 5, 56 (id est: quā ratione, quo modo fieret, Don.); cf. id. ib. 4, 4, 18: quā facere id possis, nostram nunc accipe mentem, Verg. A. 1,676: coëant in foedera dextrae, Quā datur, Verg. A. 11, 293 Forbig. ad loc.: ante praedico, M. Antonium delectus, quā possit, habiturum, in whatever manner, Cic. Phil. 6, 3, 5: veterem tutare sodalem, Quā licet, Ov. P. 2, 4, 33: quā licet et possum, luctor celare furorem, id. H. 15 (16), 235: quā populus laboret, Hor. C. 3, 8, 25.Charlton Lewis's shorter dictionary for students: the same scholarship in plain, modern definitions.
quā adv.
abl fem. of qui, of place, on which side, at which place, in what direction, where, by what way : in eo loco quā naves accedere possent: in templum ipse nescio quā ascendit: quā se parens persequeretur: reliquum spatium, quā flumen intermittit, Cs.: Plurima quā silva est, O.: incessit, quā duxit praedae spes, exercitus, L.: oras, quā medius liquor Secernit Europen ab Afro, H.: quā murum ducturi erant, L.: incerti, quā data victoria esset, on which side , L.: ad omnīs introitūs quā adiri poterat: vias relaxat, veniat quā sucus in herbas, V.: duae erant viae, quā, etc., N. — Where, to what extent, as far as : omnia, quā visus erat, constrata telis, S.: consedit in ripis, quā sequi munimento poterat, L.: quā terra patet, fera regnat Erinys, O.—Fig., repeated in partitive sense, quā . . . quā, partly . . . partly; as well . . . as, both . . . and : usi sunt quā suis quisque quā totius ordinis viribus, L.: omnia convestivit hederā quā basim villae, quā intercolumnia: quā dominus, quā advocati: quā falsa quā vera iacere, L.— In what manner, how, by what method, by what means : Quā facere id possis, nostram nunc accipe mentem, V.: ante praedico, Antonium dilectūs, quā possit, habiturum, in whatever manner.—To what extent, in what degree, as far as : coëant in foedera dextrae, Quā datur, V.: statui non ultra attingere externa, nisi quā Romanis cohaereant rebus, in so far as , L.: si Quā res, quā ratio suaderet, vellet bonus . . . Esse, H. —Indef, in any way, to any degree .—Only with ne : fieri potis est ut ne quā exeat, not at all , T.: ne quā populus laboret cavere, H.
quā rē or quārē adv.,
by what means? whereby? how?: Quid si nunc fortunatus fias? Ch. quā re? T.—By means of which, whereby, in order that: res novae, quā re luxuria reprimeretur, N.: permulta dici possunt, quā re intellegatur, etc.— From what cause? on what account? wherefore? why?: quā re negasti illud te fuisse laturum?: quā re Templa ruunt antiqua? H.—By reason of which, so that: accendis, quā re cupiam, etc., i. e. you inflame my desire, H.: quaeramus, quae tanta vitia fuerint in unico filio, quā re is patri displiceret.—And for that reason, wherefore, therefore: quā re sic tibi eum commendo, ut, etc.: quā re pro certo habetote, S.
Origins
Adverb declined from quī. Diachronically, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷéh₂; compare Ancient Greek πῇ (pēî), πῆ (pê, “which way, how”) and Latin quam.