particle
quippe
quippe
Classical[ˈkʷɪp.pɛ]Ecclesiastical[ˈkʷip.pe]
№ 499 of the 1,000 commonest wordsMille Verba core vocabulary
Meaning
- discourseparticlethe reason is that (introducing the reason for a previous assertion and expecting ready agreement)
- discourseoftenparticlethe reason is that (introducing the reason for a previous assertion and expecting ready agreement)
- discourseparticleas is to be expected from someone who; as being
- discourseparticleseeing as, since, inasmuch as (specifying and qualifying a situation)
- discourseparticleas is natural when, seeing as (introducing a justification, defence etc.)
- discourseoftenparentheticparticleindeed, since, after all, why, I mean (often corresponding to a written dash in English)
Mene incepto desistere victam, nec posse Italia Teucrorum avertere regem?
1983 translation by Robert Fitzgerald Give up what I began? Am I defeated? Am I impotent to keep the king of Teucrians from Italy? The Fates forbid me, am I to suppose?Vergil, Aeneid 1.37–39 - discourseoftenparentheticparticlefor, namely (explaining the usage of a word or phrase)
Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers
scīlicet (īrōnicē)quippe — in Aeneis, ch. 10
quippe, adv. and
I. conj. [quī-pe], a particle of corroboration, similar to nempe (from nam-pe), surely, certainly, to be sure, by all means, indeed, in fact.
1. Recte igitur diceres te restituisse? Quippe:
quid enim facilius est quam probari iis, qui? etc., Cic. Caecin. 19, 55: leve nomen habet utraque res: quippe; leve enim est hoc totum, risum movere, id. de Or. 2, 54, 219: a te quidem apte (dictum est); quippe; habes enim a rhetoribus, etc., id. Fin. 4, 3, 7.—Ironically, certainly, indeed, forsooth: quippe, vetor fatis, I, forsooth, am forbidden by the fates! Verg. A. 1, 39: movet me quippe lumen curiae, Cic. Mil. 12, 33.— 2. Introducing an explanation, for, for in fact:
quippe benignus erat, Hor. S. 1, 2, 4: quippe color nivis est, Ov. M. 2, 852; 14, 91; 11, 495: quippe homo jam grandior Se continebat ruri, Ter. Phorm. 2, 3, 15: quidam contra miseriti, periturae quippe, Phaedr. 3, 2, 5.—So parenthet.: non illi contempsere, quippe toties fusi fugatique ... se et vos novere, Liv. 3, 67; Curt. 3, 4, 8 sq.—3. Hence, introducing a fact given as a reason or cause, = nam, enim, for, because, inasmuch as (not in Cic. or Cæs.):
quippe si hercle rescivere inimici consilium tuom, etc., Plaut. Mil. 3, 1, 9; Ter. Heaut. 2, 4, 9: intellego aequos bonosque mihi favere, quippe beneficia mea rei publicae procedunt, Sall. J. 85, 5: duo exercitus periculi magis praesentis quam curae expertes, quippe imperium agebatur in tam paucorum virtute positum, Liv. 1, 25, 2; cf. Sall. C. 19; Liv. 5, 24; 6, 6.— 4. In connection with the causal particles, enim, etenim, quia, etc., for indeed, since in fact, inasmuch as, Lucr. 6, 617:
quippe etenim, id. 1, 104: insanabilis non est credendus, quippe quoniam in multis sponte desiit, Plin. 26, 10, 64, § 100: quippe quando mihi nihil credis, Plaut. Capt. 4, 2, 106.—Esp. freq.: quippe cum, Cic. Att. 10, 3, 1; cf.: neque Cimoni fuit turpe, sororem habere in matrimonio, quippe cum cives ejus eodem uterentur instituto, Nep. praef. § 4; Liv. 26, 39, 9: quippe ubi dimidiae partis pars semper habebit Dimidiam partem, Lucr. 1, 617; 990.—Also absol., Verg. A. 1, 661. — 5. In connection with the relative pronouns, qui, quae, quod, prop., as one in fact who, which, or that, i. e. since or inasmuch as I, thou, he, it, etc.
(a). With indic.: dicat, argenti minas se habere quinquaginta: quippe ego qui nudiustertius meis manibus dinumeravi, since or seeing that I paid, Plaut. Ep. 3, 2, 30: tametsi pro imperio vobis quod dictum foret, Scibat facturos; quippe qui intellexerat, Vereri vos se et metuere, since he knew that you revered, etc., id. Am. prol. 22:
aperite januam hanc Orci: nam equidem haud aliter esse duco: quippe quo nemo advenit, nisi quem spes reliquere omnes, since no one comes here, id. Bacch. 3, 1, 2; Ter. Heaut. 3, 2, 27: multa de meā sententiā questus est Caesar, quippe quod etiam Ravennae Crassum ante vidisset, Cic. Fam. 1, 9, 9: plurimum terroris Romam celeritas hostium tulit, quippe quibus aegre ad undecimum lapidem occursum est, and in fact they met them, Liv. 5, 37. — (b). With subj. (class.):
convivia cum patre non inibat: quippe qui ne in oppidum quidem, nisi perraro, veniret, Cic. Rosc. Am. 18, 52: nihil attinet eam ex lege considerare, quippe quae in lege scripta non sit, id. Inv. 2, 45, 131: cum a tyranno crudeliter violatus esset, quippe quem venundari jussisset: tamen, Nep. Dion, 2, 3.— 6. In connection with etiam and et, since indeed, for even (poet.):
quippe etiam festis quaedam exercere diebus, Fas et jura sinunt, Verg. G. 1, 268: quippe et Collinas ad fossam moverit herbas, Stantia currenti diluerentur aquā, Prop. 4 (5), 5, 11.—7. With ut, so that (post-class.), Just. 4, 3, 2.
Charlton Lewis's shorter dictionary for students: the same scholarship in plain, modern definitions.
quippe adv. and conj.
2 qui+-pe.
I. I. As adv., of course, as you see, obviously, as one might expect, naturally, by all means : leve nomen habet utraque res; quippe; leve enim est hoc, risum movere: ergo ad cenam si quis vocat, condemnetur. Quippe, inquit, etc.—Usu. followed by a causal particle: quod flagitabam . . . quippe cum bellum geri iam viderem: raro tantis animis concurrerunt classes, quippe cum pugnarent, etc., L. —With a relat . introducing an obvious explanation or reason: multa questus est Caesar, quippe qui vidisset, etc., as he would of course, after seeing , etc.: plurimum terroris tulit, quippe quibus aegre occursum est, etc., L.: solis candor inlustrior est . . . quippe qui tam late conluceat: convivia non inibat; quippe qui ne in oppidum quidem veniret. —With an explanatory appositive: sol Democrito magnus videtur, quippe homini erudito, i. e. as of course it must to an intelligent man : quidam contra miseriti Periturae quippe, Ph.—In irony, certainly, indeed, forsooth : Quippe vetor fatis, I, forsooth, am forbidden by the fates! V.: movet me quippe lumen curiae.—
II. II. As conj., introducing an obvious explanation or reason, since, for, for in fact : quippe benignus erat, for he was, you see , etc., H.: Quippe color nivis est, O.: quippe homo iam grandior ruri Se continebat, T.: neque provinciam invitus dederat; quippe foedum hominem a re p. procul esse volebat, S.: ego laudo . . . quippe qui saepe id remedium aegritudinumst, since somehow (see 2 qui), T.: Quippe etiam festis quaedam exercere diebus, Fas et iura sinunt, eince even , etc., V.
Origins
For quid (“what, why, well!”, interjection) + -pe, the same corroborating particle seen in nempe; see also quispiam.