pronoun
quisnam
quisnam (femine quaenam, neuter quidnam)
Classical[ˈkʷɪs.nãː]Ecclesiastical[ˈkʷiz.nam]
Meaning
- who, which, what?
In the readers how our graded readers gloss it
who then?
quisnam, quidnam — in De Bello Gallico II
Declension
| form | masculine | feminine | neuter |
|---|---|---|---|
| nominative | — | quaenam | — |
| ablative | — | quānam | — |
quisnam, quaenam, quidnam,
I. pron. interrog. [quis-nam], who, which, what pray (class.).
I. In direct interrogation:
quisnam igitur tuebitur P. Scipionis memoriam mortui? Cic. Verr. 2, 4, 36, § 80: sed earum artificem quem? Quemnam? id. ib. 2, 4, 3, § 5: cruciatur cor mihi et metuo. Ca. Quidnam id est? Plaut. Trin. 5, 2, 45: sed quidnam Pamphilum exanimatum video? for what pray? why pray? Ter. And. 1, 4, 7; id. Ad. 3, 2, 7; id. And. 2, 6, 18: quisnam igitur liber? Hor. S. 2, 7, 83.— Sometimes joined, pleon., with num: num quidnam amplius tibi cum illā fuit? pray had you nothing further to do with her? Ter. And. 2, 1, 25: num quisnam praeterea? nemo est, any body else? Cic. Rosc. Am. 37, 107: num quidnam, Crassus inquit, novi? is there any thing new? id. de Or. 2, 3, 13.— Sometimes separated: in aedibus quid tibi meis nam erat negoti? Plaut. Aul. 3, 2, 13: quid tu, malum, nam me retrahis? id. Rud. 4, 3, 8; id. Bacch. 5, 1, 26.— Quisnam as fem.: quis ea est nam optuma? Plaut. Aul. 2, 1, 16.— In the poets nam sometimes stands before quis: nam quae haec anus est? Ter. Phorm. 5, 1, 5: nam quis te nostras Jussit adire domos? Verg. G. 4, 445. — II. In indirect discourse:
reviso, quidnam Chaerea hic rerum gerat, Ter. Eun. 5, 4, 1: ut sciam num quidnam afferat, etc., id. And. 1, 4, 8: miserunt Delphos consultum, quidnam facerent de rebus suis, Nep. Them. 2.Charlton Lewis's shorter dictionary for students: the same scholarship in plain, modern definitions.
quis-nam (quis nam) or (adj.) quīnam quaenam, quidnam or
(adj.) quodnam, pron. interrog, who then? who in the world? which, I insist? what, pray? (more pressing than quis): Quod nam ob factum, T.: quisnam igitur tuebitur P. Scipionis memoriam? cuinam mirum videretur?: Numquid nam amplius tibi cum illā fuit? pray had you nothing further to do with her? T.: num quisnam praeterea? nemo est, anybody else: num quidnam novi? is there anything new?—In indirect questions: reviso, quid nam Chaerea hic rerum gerat, T.: exspectabam quinam testes dicerentur: miserunt Delphos consultum, quidnam facerent de rebus suis, N.: controversias habere, quinam anteferretur (i. e. uter), Cs.
Origins
From quis (“who?” “what?”) + -nam.