LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
adverb

ubī̆

ubī̆ (not comparable)
Classical[ˈʊ.biː]Ecclesiastical[ˈuː.bi]
№ 92 of the 1,000 commonest wordsMille Verba core vocabulary

Meaning

  1. interrogativenot comparablewhere? in what place?, in which place?
    Ubī̆ patera nunc est? — In cistulā.Where is the bowl now? — In the small chest.
    Ubī̆ inveniam Pamphilium? Ubī̆ quaeram?Where can I find Pamphilius? Where should I look?
  2. not comparablerelativewhere or in a place where
    Ubī̆ tyrannus est, ibī̆ plānē est nūlla rēs pūblica.Where there is a tyrant, there is clearly no republic.
  3. not comparablerelativewhen
    Ubī̆ carceri appropinquavit, portam apertam vidit. (Cambridge Latin course 3)When he approached the jail, he saw the open gate.
  4. colloquialnot comparablerelativestands for either quō/quā/quibus (“in which, by which, with which, wherewith”)
    […]comburas, si velis,c. 209 BCE, Plautus, Asinaria 4.1.21–22
    Si rem servassem, fuit ubi negotiosus essem.c. 189 BCE, Plautus, Truculentus 140
  5. not comparablea means, someway (to) (literally, “a place where”)
    Near-synonym: unde
    Inveniam pol hodie parem ubi referam gratiam.161 BCE, Publius Terentius Afer, Eunuchus 4.719

Phrases from Meissner's Latin Phrase-Book

ubi illuxit, luxit, diluxit
when it was day.

ŭbī^, adv. for quo-bi; cf. Gr. ποῦ, πό-θι; Ion. κό-θι.
I. Lit.
A. A relative local particle, denoting rest in a place, in which place, in what place, where.
1. With corresp. ibi: in eam partem ituros atque ibi futuros Helvetios, ubi eos Caesar constituisset, Caes. B. G. 1, 13: velim, ibi malis esse, ubi aliquo numero sis, quam istic, ubi solus sapere videare, Cic. Fam. 1, 10; cf.: nemo sit, quin ubivis, quam ibi, ubi est, esse malit, id. ib. 6, 1, 1: ergo, ubi tyrannus est, ibi ... dicendum est plane nullam esse rem publicam, id. Rep. 3, 31, 43: ibi unde huc translata essent, atque ubi primum exstitissent, id. ib. 2, 16, 30.—
2. Referring to other expressions of place: omnes, qui tum eos agros, ubi hodie est haec urbs, incolebant, Cic. Rep. 2, 2, 4: non modo ut Spartae, rapere ubi pueri et clepere discunt, id. ib. 4, 5, 11: in ipso aditu atque ore portus, ubi, etc., Cic. Verr. 2, 5, 12, § 30.—
3. With the interrogative particle nam suffixed: in quā non video, ubinam mens constans possit insistere, Cic. N. D. 1, 10, 24.—
4. With terrarum, loci (v. terra and locus): non edepol nunc, ubi terrarum sim, scio, si quis roget, Plaut. Am. 1, 1, 180: quid ageres, ubi terrarum esses, Cic. Att. 5, 10, 4: ubi loci fortunae tuae sint, facile intellegis, Plaut. Capt. 5, 2, 5: ut inanis mens quaerat, ubi sit loci, Plin. 7, 24, 24, § 90.—
5. Repeated ubi ubi, also written as one word ubiubi, wherever, wheresoever = ubicumque (very rare): ubi ubi est, fac, quamprimum haec audiat, Ter. Eun. 5, 8, 12: sperantes facile, ubiubi essent se ... conversuros aciem, Liv. 42, 57, 12.—With gentium: ubi ubi est gentium, Plaut. As. 2, 2, 21.—
B. In a direct interrogation, where? So. Ubi patera nunc est? Me. In cistulā, etc., Plaut. Am. 1, 1, 264: ubi ego perii? ubi immutatus sum? ubi ego formam perdidi? id. ib. 300: ubi inveniam Pamphilum? Ubi quaeram? Ter. And. 2, 2, 1; 2, 2, 6: ubi sunt, qui Antonium Graece negant scire? Cic. de Or. 2, 14, 59: heu! ubi nunc fastus altaque verba jacent? Ov. H. 4, 150 Ruhnk.—
2. Esp., with gentium: ubi illum quaeram gentium? Plaut. Ep. 5, 2, 13; and with the interrog. particle nam suffixed: ubinam est is homo gentium? id. Merc. 2, 3, 97: o di immortales! ubinam gentium sumus? ... in quā urbe vivimus? Cic. Cat. 1, 4, 9 (v. gens).—
II. Transf.
A. Most freq. of time, when, whenever, as soon as, as: ubi summus imperator non adest ad exercitum, Plaut. Am. 1, 3, 6: ubi ego Sosia nolim esse, tu esto sane Sosia. Nunc. etc., id. ib. 1, 1, 284: ubi friget, huc evasit, Ter. Eun. 3, 3, 11: ubi lucet, magistratus myrrhā unguentisque unguentur, Varr. L. L. 6, § 87 Müll.: ut sol, victis ubi nubibus exit, Ov. M. 5, 571: qualis, ubi hibernam Lyciam Xanthique fluenta Deserit (Apollo), Verg. A. 4, 143: ubi semel quis pejeraverit, ei credi postea non oportet, Cic. Rab. Post. 13, 36: hoc ubi Amphitruo erus conspicatu'st meus, Ilico, etc., Plaut. Am. 1, 1, 87: ubi de ejus adventu Helvetii certiores facti sunt, legatos ad eum mittunt, Caes. B. G. 1, 7: ubi ea dies venit, etc., id. ib. 1, 8: quem ubi vidi, equidem vim lacrimarum profudi, Cic. Rep. 6, 14, 14: ubi galli cantum audivit, id. Pis. 27, 67: at hostes, ubi primum nostros equites conspexerunt ... impetu facto, etc., Caes. B. G. 4, 12; Quint. 7, 1, 6.—With subj., Hor. C. 3, 6, 41.—With inf. hist., Tac. A. 12, 51.—
2. With correl. adv. of time (mostly anteand post-class.; not in Cic. or Caæs.).
(a). With tum: otium ubi erit, tum, etc., Plaut. Rud. 2, 4, 13: ubi convivae abierint, tum venias, id. Stich. 4, 2, 14; id. Pers. 4, 7, 18; Quadrig. ap. Gell. 2, 2, 13: cetera maleficia tum persequare, ubi facta sunt, Sall. C. 52, 4; Cato, R. R. 33, 2; 33, 45 fin.: ubi conticuerit recte tumultus, tum in curiam patres revocandos esse, Liv. 22, 55, 8; 25, 38, 4; 43, 5, 6; 44, 34, 5: ut, cum admissa et perpetrata fuerint, tum denique, ubi, quae facta sunt infecta fieri non possunt, puniantur, Gell. 6 (7), 3, 42.—Esp., with tum demum: ubi jam caro increscit, tum demum et balineis raris utendum erit, Cels. 7, 4 fin.; 3, 6; 7, 27; Gell. 16, 8, 16.—
(b). With tunc: ubi vis acrior imminet hostium, tunc, etc., Veg. Mil. 1, 24: tunc est consummata infelicitas. ubi, etc., Sen. Ep. 39, 6; 89, 15; 89, 19.—Esp., with tunc demum, Cels. 3, 10.—
B. In colloq. lang., referring to things or persons, instead of the relative pronoun, in which, by which, with which, wherewith, etc.; or of persons, with whom, by whom, etc.: ne illi sit cera, ubi facere possit litteras, Plaut. As. 4, 1, 22: hujusmodi res semper comminiscere, Ubi me excarnifices, Ter. Heaut. 4, 6, 9: cum multa colligeres et ex legibus et ex senatusconsultis, ubi, si verba, non rem sequeremur, confici nihil posset, Cic. de Or. 1, 57, 243: si rem servassem, fuit, ubi negotiosus essem, Plaut. Truc. 1, 2, 38; cf.: est, ubi id isto modo valeat, Cic. Tusc. 5, 8, 23; v. sum, I. B. 5. b. β: neque nobis adhuc praeter te quisquam fuit, ubi nostrum jus contra illos obtineremus, with whom, Cic. Quint. 9, 34: Alcmene, questus ubi ponat aniles, Iolen habet, Ov. M. 9, 276.

Origins

From Old Latin cubī with iambic shortening, from Proto-Italic *kʷuðei or *kʷuβei, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷudʰei or *kʷobʰí (when compared with Hittite ku-wa-pi), from pronominal root *kʷu- + *-dʰi (locative suffix). Compare Ancient Greek πόθι (póthi). See also the same meanings in quō. The unexpected loss of c may be explained as a re-analysis of the negative nēcubi, where the c was interpreted as being from nec (the negation here was just the nē). This is also clear in the compound alicubi and sī-cubi. Contamination with ibi (“there”) is also possible.

Italo-Dalmatian
  • Italianove
  • Italianu'
  • Italiandove
  • Italianindove
  • Dalmatianjo
  • Dalmatianandua
  • Dalmatiananduve
  • Neapolitanaddò
  • Venetandóe
  • Venetanindove
Ibero-Romance
  • Portugueseufrom Old Galician-Portuguese u
  • Spanishofrom Old Spanish o
  • Spanishdofrom Old Spanish do
  • Asturianufrom Old Leonese u
  • Asturianaufrom Old Leonese u
  • Galicianufrom Old Galician-Portuguese u
  • Asturiandofrom Old Leonese do
Balkano-Romance
  • Romanianiuo
  • Aromanianiu
Gallo-Romance
  • Frenchoùfrom Old French u
  • Franco-Provençalyô
Insular Romance
  • Logudoreseue
  • Nuoreseube
  • Nuoreseuve
Gallo-Italic
  • Piedmontesedoa

Quick answers

What does ubī̆ mean in Latin?
ubī̆, a adverb, means “where? in what place?, in which place?; where or in a place where; when”.
How do you pronounce ubī̆?
In classical Latin, [ˈʊ.biː]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [ˈuː.bi].