LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
pronounindefinite substantival pronoun, singular only

quisque

quisque (feminine quaeque, neuter quidque or quicque)
Classical[ˈkʷɪs.kʷɛ]Ecclesiastical[ˈkʷis.kʷe]
№ 197 of the 1,000 commonest wordsMille Verba core vocabulary

Meaning

  1. adjectivalindefinitepronounsingularsingular onlyeach one, each person, each individual
  2. adjectivalindefinitepronounsingularsingular onlyeverybody, everyone
  3. adjectivalindefinitepronounsingularsingular onlyanyone, whoever
    altissima quaeque flumina minimo sono labiWhichever rivers are deepest flow with the least sound.Quintus Curtius Rufus, Historiae Alexandri Magni VII, 4

Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers

omnis ūnus; omnēs singulī
each
quisque, quaeque, quodque — in De Bello Gallico I, ch. 4
et quī; quisque = ūnus et ūnus, omnēs
each
quisque, quaeque, quodque — in De Bello Gallico III, ch. 9

Choosing the right word Döderlein's Latin Synonyms

Quisque · Quivis · Quilibet · Unusquisque · Omnes · Universi · Cuncti · Totus

1. Quisque, quivis, and quilibet, denote a totality, which is cut up into several individualities; whereas omnes, universi, and cuncti, denote a combined totality. 2. Quisque means each individual; quivis, any individual you choose, without exception, and with emphasis; quilibet, any individual whatever, without selection, and with indifference, like ὁστισοῦν, synonymously with primus quisque, ὁ τυχών. Propert. ii. 6, 26. Templa pudicitiæ quid opus statuisse puellis, si cuivis nuptæ cuilibet esse licet? apud Lachmann. Cic. Fam. viii. 10. Quidvis quamlibet tenue munusculum. 3. Quisque is an enclitic, that is, throws back the accent on the preceding word, and in prose never stands at the beginning of a sentence, like ἕκαστος; whereas unusquisque is accented and emphatic, like εἷς ἕκαστος. 4. Unusquisque denotes each individual, in opp. to some individuals; whereas singuli, individuals, in opp. to the undivided totality, like ἕκαστοι. 5. Omnes (ἅπαντες) denotes all without exception, merely as a totality, in opp. to nemo, unus, aliquot. Cic. Sext. 12, 27. Off. iii. 6, like πάντες; whereas universi, all taken collectively, in opp. to singuli and unusquisque. Cic. N. D. ii. 17. 65, 66. Off. iii. 6, like σύμπαντες; lastly, cuncti (ξυνεκτοί) all in their combined reality, in opp. to dispersi, like ἅπαντες. Liv. vii. 35. Admonitione paventibus cunctis quum omnium in se vertisset oculos Decius. Nep. Dat. 5. Qui illum unum pluris quam se omnes fieri videbant. Quo facto cuncti ad eum opprimendum consenserunt. 6. Totus, solidus, and integer denote that which is originally a whole, but which is liable to fall to pieces by accident, like ὅλος; whereas omnis, universus, and cunctus, denote original individualities, which form a whole by their association, like πᾶς, σύμπας, ἅπας. (iv. 352.)

Declension

singular
formmasculinefeminineneuter
nominativequisquequaequequidque
quicque, quodque
genitivecuiusque
quoiusque
cuiusque
quoiusque
cuiusque
quoiusque
dativecuique
quoique, quoī, quoeique, quoiī, quoieique
cuique
quoique, quoī, quoeique, quoiī, quoieique
cuique
quoique, quoī, quoeique, quoiī, quoieique
accusativequemquequamquequidque
quicque, quodque
ablativequōque
quīque
quāque
quīque
quōque
quīque
plural
formmasculinefeminineneuter
nominativequīque
queique
quaequequaeque
genitivequōrumquequārumquequōrumque
dativequibusque
quīsque, queisque
quibusque
quīsque, queisque
quibusque
quīsque, queisque
accusativequōsquequāsquequaeque
ablativequibusque
quīsque, queisque
quibusque
quīsque, queisque
quibusque
quīsque, queisque

Phrases from Meissner's Latin Phrase-Book

omnes docti, quivis doctus, doctissimus quisque
all learned men.

quis-que, quaeque, quodque, and
I. subst. quicque (quidque), pron. indef., whoever or whatever it be, each, every, every body, every one, every thing (prop. of more than two persons or things; cf. uterque): non tute incommodam rem, ut quaeque est, in animum induces pati? Ter. Hec. 4, 2, 27; ut in quo quisque artificio excelleret, is in suo genere Roscius diceretur, Cic. de Or. 1, 28, 130; id. Rep. 6, 24, 26: tantum quisque laudat, quantum se posse sperat imitari, id. Or. 7, 24: quod cuique obtigit, id quisque teneat, id. Off. 1, 7, 21: magni est judicis statuere, quid quemque cuique praestare oporteat, id. ib. 3, 17, 70: sibi quoque tendente, ut periculo prius evaderet, Liv. 21, 33: ut quaeque stellae in iis, finitimisque partibus sint quoque tempore, Cic. Div. 2, 42, 89: quamcumque rem a quoque cognorit, id. de Or. 1, 15, 67: scrobes ternorum pedum in quamque partem, Plin. 17, 22, 35, § 167: proximis quibusque correptis, Flor. 1, 9: prout quique monitione indigerent, Suet. Aug. 89.—With gen.: tuorum quisque necessariorum, Cic. Fam. 1, 9, 25: quantulum enim summae curtabit quisque dierum, Si, Hor. S. 2, 3, 124.—With comp.: quo quisque est sollertior, hoc docet laboriosius, Cic. Rosc. Com. 11, 31: quo majus quodque animal, eo, etc., Cels. 2, 18: ut quique (pedes) sunt temporibus pleniores, hoc, etc., Quint. 9, 4, 83: bonus liber melior est quisque, quo major, Plin. Ep. 1, 20, 4.—With sup., to express universality (quisque is then placed after the sup.; class. with sing. and neutr. plur.; rare with plur. masc. and fem.): doctissimus quisque, every learned man, i. e. all the learned, Cic. Tusc. 1, 31, 77: recentissima quaeque sunt correcta et emendata maxime, id. Ac. 1, 4, 13: in omni arte optimum quidque rarissimum est, id. Fin. 2, 25, 81: asperrima quaeque ad laborem deposcimus, Liv. 25, 6, 23; Suet. Caes. 44; Tac. A. 1, 24; Sen. Ep. 31, 1; Plin. Ep. 1, 5, 13: summum quodque spectate, milites, decus, Liv. 7, 32, 14; 23, 3, 14: antiquissimum quodque tempus, Caes. B. G. 1, 45: gravissima quaeque grana serere, Plin. 18, 8, 20, § 85.—With plur. masc. and fem.: optumi quique expetebant a me doctrinam sibi, Plaut. Most. 1, 2, 76: fortissimis quibusque amissis, Just. 5, 6, 3; Lact. Epit. 51, 2: multi mortales convenere ... maxime proximi quique, Liv. 1, 9, 8; cf.: tot leges et proximae quaeque duriores, Cic. Off. 2, 21, 75; id. Lael. 10, 34: litterae longissimae quaeque, id. Fam. 7, 33, 2; id. Att. 16, 11, 2.— With ordinal numerals, to denote generality, universality (placed after the ordinal): vix decimus quisque est, qui ipsus se noverit, scarcely one in ten, Plaut. Ps. 4, 2, 17: tertio quoque verbo excitabatur, at every other word, Cic. Rab. Post. 12, 34: quinto quoque anno, every fifth year, i. e. every four years, Cic. Verr. 2, 2, 56, § 139: quinto quoque palo, Plin. 17, 22, 35, § 169.—Rarely of time (days, years, etc.), without an ordinal numeral: notentur, quae (ova) quoque die sint edita, Col. 8, 5, 4: annis quibusque, every year, Plin. 33, 3, 15, § 52.—With primus, the very first, the first possible: primo quoque tempore, as soon as possible, Cic. Phil. 3, 15, 39: primo quoque die, at the earliest day, as soon as possible, id. ib. 8, 11, 33: exercitui diem primam quamque dicere, the earliest day possible, Liv. 42, 48: primum quicque videamus, the very first, Cic. N. D. 3, 3, 7.— Quisque stands freq. in app. with plur. subst.: ubi quisque vident, eunt obviam, Plaut. Capt. 3, 2, 2: sibi quisque habeant, quod suom est, id. Curc. 1, 3, 24: decimus quisque ad supplicium lecti, Liv. 2, 59: octo delecti notissimus quisque, id. 7, 19, 2: (consules) in suas quisque provincias proficiscerentur, id. 25, 12, 2; 1, 44, 1; viri in vestibulo suarum quisque aedium stabant, Curt. 4, 4, 14: ultimi cum suis quisque ducibus, id. 3, 3, 25; 5, 2, 6; 6, 11, 20.— Often in connection with se, suus (in good prose almost always placed after the pron., Zumpt, Gram. § 701; cf. Krebs, Antibarb. p. 983): pro se quisque, Cic. Agr. 1, 9, 26: pro se quisque ad populum loquebatur, Cic. Verr. 2, 1, 27, § 68: ut quanti quisque se ipse faciat, tanti fiat ab amicis, id. Lael. 16, 56: suam quisque homo rem meminit, Plaut. Merc. 4, 5, 51: cum suo cuique judicio sit utendum, Cic. N. D. 3, 1, 1: edixit, ut quod quisque a sacris haberet, id in suum quidque fanum referret, id. ib. 3, 34, 84: quo feret natura sua quemque, id. Brut. 56, 204: dicere quos cupio nomine quemque suo, Ov. Tr. 3, 4, 64: quisque suos patimur Manes, Verg. A. 6, 743: suum quisque flagitium aliis objectantes, Tac. H. 2, 44: quos Poenus in civitates quemque suas dimisit, Liv. 21, 48, 2; cf. Just. 13, 6, 2; 33, 2, 8; Tac. A. 6, 37.—Quisque, of two, for uterque, each: oscula quisque suae matri properata tulerunt, Ov. F 2, 715: duas civitates ex unā factas: suos cuique parti magistratus, suas leges esse, Liv. 2, 44, 9; 2, 7, 1; 10, 12, 3; 27, 35, 3; for utercumque: ut cujusque populi cives vicissent, etc., id. 1, 24, 3 (dub. al. cujus) — Quisque as fem. for quaeque, like quis (ante - class.): omnes meretrices, ubi quisque habitant, invenit, Plaut. Poen. prol. 107: quo quisque pacto hic vitam vostrarum exigat, Ter. Hec. 2, 1, 19.—
II. Transf., for quicunque, whosoever, every one who, all that (ante- and postclass.): quemque videritis hominem, Plaut. Mil. 2, 2, 5; id. As. 1, 3, 47; 2, 3, 24; Liv. 1, 24: at tu, quisque doles, amice lector, Sid. Ep. 4, 11 in carm.

Origins

From quis + -que (“each”). Compare to quoque and quisquam, and a parallel development in Gothic 𐍈𐌰𐌶𐌿𐌷 (ƕazuh).

Descendants
  • Spanishquisque
  • Old Sardiniankis

Quick answers

What does quisque mean in Latin?
quisque, a pronoun, means “each one, each person, each individual; everybody, everyone; anyone, whoever”.
How do you pronounce quisque?
In classical Latin, [ˈkʷɪs.kʷɛ]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [ˈkʷis.kʷe].