noun · femininethird declension
quaestiō
quaestiō f (genitive quaestiōnis)
Classical[ˈkʷae̯s.ti.oː]Ecclesiastical[ˈkʷɛs.ti.o]
Meaning
- problem
- seeking, search
esse in quaestione alicui
to be missing to someone, to be sought by someoneSed vide sis ne in quaestione sis, quando arcessam, mihi.
But please see to it that you're not missing to me when I come to fetch you. (This phrase could also more idiomatically be understood as "please make sure I don't have to go looking for you when I come to fetch you.")c. 191 BCE, Plautus, Pseudolus II.ii.663 - inquiry, investigation, questioning, question
quaestiō aeterna
an eternal question[…] tū nōn sōlum ad neglegendās lēgēs et quaestiōnēs, vērum etiam ad ēvertendās perfringendāsque valuistī.
[…] you have had the power not only for neglecting laws and investigations, but also for overthrowing and shattering them.63 BCE, Cicero, In Catilinam orationes 1.18 - inquisition
Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers
causa pūblica, iūdiciumquaestiō -ōnis (f) — in IVLIANVS II: Imperium, ch. 19, 23
question, inquiry
quaestiō -ōnis (f) — in De Bello Gallico III
Declension
| form | singular | plural |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | quaestiō quaestiuncula | quaestiōnēs quaestiunculae |
| genitive | quaestiōnis quaestiunculae | quaestiōnum quaestiunculārum |
| dative | quaestiōnī quaestiunculae | quaestiōnibus quaestiunculīs |
| accusative | quaestiōnem quaestiunculam | quaestiōnēs quaestiunculās |
| ablative | quaestiōne quaestiunculā | quaestiōnibus quaestiunculīs |
| vocative | quaestiō quaestiuncula | quaestiōnēs quaestiunculae |
Phrases from Meissner's Latin Phrase-Book
- quaestionem solvere
- to decide, determine a question.
- quaestioni praeesse
- to preside over an inquiry.
- disputatio, quaestio
- systematic, scientific discussion.
- quaestio ad exitum venit
- the question has been settled.
- quaestionem ponere, proponere
- to propose a subject of debate, put a question.
- quaestionem poscere (Fin. 2. 1. 1)
- to get a question submitted to one.
- hoc loco exsistit quaestio, quaeritur
- at this point the question arises.
- quaestiones perpetuae (Brut. 27. 106)
- the standing commissions of inquiry.
2 more phrases
- magna quaestio est (followed by an indirect question)
- it is a difficult point, disputed question.
- quaestionem habere de aliquo, de aliqua re or in aliquem
- to examine a person, a matter.
quaestĭo, ōnis, f. quaero,
I. a seeking.
I. In gen. (Plautin.):
cave, fuas mi in quaestione, lest you suffer yourself to be to seek, lest I have to look after you, Plaut. Pers. 1, 1, 52: tibi ne in quaestione essemus, id. Capt. 2, 2, 3; id. Ps. 2, 2, 68.— II. In partic., an inquiry, investigation, a questioning, question, subject of inquiry:
quaestio est appetitio cognitionis, quaestionisque finis inventio, Cic. Ac. 2, 8, 26; 2, 36, 115: quae veri simillima (sententia sit), magna quaestio est, id. Tusc. 1, 11, 23; id. Fin. 2, 11, 34: rem in disceptationem quaestionemque vocare, to investigate, id. de Or. 3, 32, 129: res in quaestione versatur, is under investigation, id. Clu. 58, 159: de moribus ultima fiet quaestio, Juv. 3, 141: res in quaestionem venit, comes under investigation, Quint. 5, 14, 16: modo aliquam quaestionem poëticam ei proponeret, Nep. Att. 20, 2; cf. Cic. Att. 7, 19 fin.; Sen. Ben. 5, 8, 6; id. Ep. 48, 1; Suet. Tib. 56: quaestionem instituere, to institute an investigation, Quint. 7, 1, 6: quaestionem solvere, Sen. Ep. 48, 11; Quint. 5, 10, 26.— 2. A public judicial investigation, examination by torture, a criminal inquiry, inquisition; the crime is usu. constr. with de:
cum praetor quaestionem inter sicarios exercuisset, instituted a trial for assassination, Cic. Fin. 2, 16, 54: verberibus ac tormentis quaestionem habuit pecuniae publicae, id. Phil. 11, 2, 5: quaestionem mortis paternae de servis paternis habere, id. Rosc. Am. 28, 78: quaestionem fugitare, id. ib. 28, 78: servos in quaestionem polliceri, id. ib. 28, 77: quaestionem ferre in aliquem, to appoint, institute, make a motion for, id. de Or. 1, 53, 227: habere ex aliquo, Liv. 33, 28: facere alicui, against any one, Dig. 34, 3, 20: quaestionem de furto constituere, Cic. Clu. 64, 181: quaestionem instituere de morte alicujus, id. ib. 64, 181: quaestionem de morte viri habere, id. ib. 65, 182; 63, 176: quaestionem habere de servis in caput filii, id. ib. 63, 176: ad quaestionem abripi, to examination by torture, id. ib. 33, 89: alicui servum in quaestionem ferre, id. ib. 64, 181: postulare servum in quaestionem, id. ib. 64, 181: quaestiones severius exercere, Liv. 9, 34: quaestioni praeesse, to conduct a trial as judge, Cic. Rosc. Am. 4, 11: quaestiones perpetuae, the inquisitions concerning certain crimes (repetundarum, majestatis, de falso, de sicariis, de injuriis, etc.), conducted annually, after 605 A. U. C., by a standing commission, and presided over by the prætor, Cic. Brut. 27, 106: judex quaestionis, the director of the criminal court under the presidency of the prætor, id. Clu. 54, 148; 33, 89; id. Brut. 76, 264: quaestiones extraordinariae, trials out of the common course, held under a special commission, Liv. 39, 14; so, quaestio nova, Cic. Mil. 5, 13: A QVAESTIONIBVS, an attendant in examinations, a torturer, inquisitor, Inscr. Grut. 545, 6; 560, 1. — B. Transf.
1. The court, the judges:
dimittere eo tempore quaestionem, Cic. Verr. 2, 2, 30, § 74: totam quaestionem a severitate ad clementiam transtulit, Val. Max. 8, 1, 6.—2. The subject of investigation, the matter, case, question:
perdifficilis et perobscura quaestio est de naturā deorum, Cic. N. D. 1, 1, 1: dividere totam de dis immortalibus quaestionem in partis quattuor, id. ib. 2, 1, 3: quaestio proposita, Quint. 9, 2, 39.— b. In partic., in rhet.
(a). The rhetorical subject of debate: quaestionum duo sunt genera: alterum infinitum, alterum definitum. Definitum est, quod ὑπόθεσιν Graeci, nos causam: infinitum, quod θέσιν illi appellant, nos propositum possumus nominare, Cic. Top. 21, 79. —
(b). The main point in a disputed matter, the issue in a cause: quaestio est quae ex conflictione causarum gignitur controversia, hoc modo: Non jure fecisti: jure feci. Causarum autem haec est conflictio, in quā constitutio constat;
ex eā igitur nascitur controversia, quam quaestionem dicimus, hoc modo: jurene fecerit, Cic. Inv. 1, 13, 18; cf. id. ib. 1, 6, 8.—(g). A question, a disputed point, quaestio est, it is doubtful, may be disputed:
sapientia efficit sapientis sola per se: beatos efficiat necne sola per se quaestio est, Cic. Top. 15, 60; id. Tusc. 4, 13, 29; id. Inv. 2, 20, 60: quaestio est, an, etc., Quint. 7, 3, 22; cf.: nulla quaestio est, Aug. Retract. 1, 19, 6; cf. also: in quaestione est, Plin. 11, 17, 18, § 57; 10, 22, 27, § 52: quaestionis est immensae, id. 7, 28, 29, § 101; 28, 2, 3, § 10.Charlton Lewis's shorter dictionary for students: the same scholarship in plain, modern definitions.
quaestiō ōnis, f
QVAES-, a questioning, examination, inquiry, investigation : exploratā re quaestione captivorum, Cs.: rem in disceptationem quaestionemque vocare, to investigate : res in quaestione versatur, is under investigation : de moribus ultima fiet quaestio, Iu.— A judicial investigation, examination by torture, criminal inquiry , inquisition : cum praetor quaestionem inter sicarios exercuisset, conducted a trial for assassination : mortis paternae de servis paternis quaestionem habere: quaestionem in eum ferre, demand his prosecution : placuit quaestionem ex his haberi, L.: instituta de morte: ad quaestionem abripi, to the torture : illum in quaestionem postulavit: quaestiones severius exercere, L.: quaestioni praeesse, to sit as judge : tabellae quaestionis, records of testimony at an examination : quaestiones perpetuae, standing commissions of criminal investigation : iudex quaestionis (i. e. quaesitor): quaestiones extraordinariae, investigations by special commission , L.: dimittere eo tempore quaestionem, i. e. the court.—A question, subject of investigation, matter, case, cause, dispute, difficulty, inquiry : quae (sententia) viri simillima, magna quaestio est: perdifficilis de naturā deorum: de moribus ultima fiet Quaestio, Iu.: beatos efficiat (sapientia) necne quaestio est, may be disputed.—The record of a judicial inquiry, minutes of evidence : hanc fictam quaestionem conscripisse.
Origins
Proto-Indo-European *-tis Proto-Indo-European *-Hō Proto-Indo-European *-tiHō Proto-Italic *-tiō Latin -tiō Latin quaestiō From quaerō + -tiō. Compare with later quaesītiō.
Descendants
- Catalanqüestió
- Italianquestione
- Portuguesequestão
- Spanishcuestión
- Dutchkwestie
- Idoquestiono
- Old Frenchquestion
- Old Irishceist
- Siciliancustioni
- Sicilianquistioni
In English words that came into English from quaestiō
- questionquaestiōnem
- questionnairequaestionarius