quis

From Old French quis, from Latin quaestus, from quaesītus.

quis m (feminine singular quise, masculine plural quis, feminine plural quises)

1. past participle of quérir

quis

1. masculine plural of the past participle of quérir

quis

1. first-person singular past historic of quérir
2. second-person singular past historic of quérir

From Proto-Indo-European *kʷis, *kʷos. See there for cognates.

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /kʷis/, [kᶣɪs]

• Audio (Classical)

  (file)

quis m (feminine quis, neuter quid)

1. (substantive interrogative pronoun) who, what

   Quis es?

   Who are you?

   Quis es tu?

   Who are you? (with emphasis on the word 'you')

   Quis ut Deus?

   Who is like God?

   Quid accidit?

   What happened?

   Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

   Who watches the watchmen?

2. (in the neuter quid) how, why
3. (indefinite pronoun, alone and after si, nisi, num, ne) someone, something, anyone, anything; any
   • 27 BCE – 25 BCE, Titus Livius, Ab urbe condita libri 26.1:

     […] dum ne quem militem legeret ex eo numero quibus senatus missionem reditumque in patriam negasset ante belli finem.

     […] provided he did not choose any soldier from those to whom the Senate had refused discharge and a return home before the end of the war

4. (alternative form for nominative singular masculine of adjectival interrogative pronoun quī) which
   • 29 BCE, Virgil, Georgics 2.177–178:

     Nunc locus arvorum ingeniis, quae robora cuique,
     quis color et quae sit rebus natura ferendis.

     Now give we place to the genius of soils, the strength of each, its hue, its native power for bearing.

   • 116 CE, Tacitus, Annales 1.48:

     Tunc signo inter se dato inrumpunt contubernia, trucidant ignaros, nullo nisi consciis noscente quod caedis initium, quis finis.

     Then, passing the signal to one another, they broke into the tents and struck down their unsuspecting victims; while no one, apart from those in the secret, knew how the massacre had begun or where it was to end.

• As an indefinite pronoun, quis is generally substantive when used alone, and adjectival after si etc., with quī the reverse[1]; exceptions, however, occur:

c. 26 BCE, Tibullus, Elegies 1x.13–14:

nunc ad bella trahor, et iam quis forsitan hostis
haesura in nostro tela gerit latere.

Now am I dragged to war; and some foeman, maybe, already bears the weapon that is to be buried in my side.

• Various old forms exist: quēs for the nominative plural; quoius for genitive singular; quoi for the dative singular; quīs for the ablative plural[2].

• cūius
• qui
• quod

• Italian: chi
• Franco-Provençal: qui
• French: qui
• Mozarabic: ki
• Neapolitan: chi
• Norman: qùi (France)
• Portuguese: quem
• Spanish: quién
• Walloon: kî

• quis in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• quis in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• quis in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Hachette
• Carl Meissner; Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎, London: Macmillan and Co.
  • (ambiguous) to let those present fix any subject they like for discussion: ponere iubere, qua de re quis audire velit (Fin. 2. 1. 1)
    
  • an anonymous writer: nescio quis
    
  • to isolate a witness: aliquem a ceteris separare et in arcam conicere ne quis cum eo colloqui possit (Mil. 22. 60)
    
  • Solon made it a capital offence to..: Solo capite sanxit, si quis... (Att. 10. 1)
    
  • (ambiguous) the visible world: haec omnia, quae videmus
    
  • (ambiguous) the vegetable kingdom: ea, quae terra gignit
    
  • (ambiguous) the vegetable kingdom: ea, quae e terra gignuntur
    
  • (ambiguous) the vegetable kingdom: ea, quae a terra stirpibus continentur
    
  • (ambiguous) the vegetable kingdom: ea quorum stirpes terra continentur (N. D. 2. 10. 26)
    
  • (ambiguous) the atmosphere: aer qui est terrae proximus
    
  • (ambiguous) eastern, western Germany: Germania quae or Germaniae ea pars quae, ad orientem, occidentem vergit
    
  • (ambiguous) where are you going: quo tendis?
    
  • (ambiguous) I cannot wait till..: nihil mihi longius est or videtur quam dum or quam ut
    
  • (ambiguous) nothing is more tiresome to me than..: nihil mihi longius est quam (c. Inf.)
    
  • (ambiguous) since the time that, since (at the beginning of a sentence): ex quo tempore or simply ex quo
    
  • (ambiguous) the middle ages: media quae vocatur aetas
    
  • (ambiguous) Pericles, the greatest man of his day: Pericles, quo nemo tum fuit clarior
    
  • (ambiguous) Pericles, the greatest man of his day: Pericles, vir omnium, qui tum fuerunt, clarissimus
    
  • (ambiguous) it is more than twenty years ago: amplius sunt (quam) viginti anni or viginti annis
    
  • (ambiguous) on the day after, which was September 5th: postridie qui fuit dies Non. Sept. (Nonarum Septembrium) (Att. 4. 1. 5)
    
  • (ambiguous) to-day the 5th of September; tomorrow September the 5th: hodie qui est dies Non. Sept.; cras qui dies futurus est Non. Sept.
    
  • (ambiguous) the world of sense, the visible world: res quas oculis cernimus
    
  • (ambiguous) those to whom we owe our being: ei, propter quos hanc lucem aspeximus
    
  • (ambiguous) how old are you: qua aetate es?
    
  • (ambiguous) our contemporaries; men of our time: homines qui nunc sunt (opp. qui tunc fuerunt)
    
  • (ambiguous) how are you getting on: quo loco res tuae sunt?
    
  • (ambiguous) if anything should happen to me; if I die: si quid (humanitus) mihi accidat or acciderit
    
  • (ambiguous) under such circumstances: quae cum ita sint
    
  • (ambiguous) what will become of him: quid illo fiet?
    
  • (ambiguous) what am I to do with this fellow: quid huic homini (also hoc homine) faciam?
    
  • (ambiguous) how came it that...: quid causae fuit cur...?
    
  • (ambiguous) from this point of view; similarly: quo in genere
    
  • (ambiguous) by some chance or other: nescio quo casu (with Indic.)
    
  • (ambiguous) Fortune's favourite: is, quem fortuna complexa est
    
  • (ambiguous) what is the use of: quid attinet? with Infin.
    
  • (ambiguous) Plato's ideal republic: illa civitas, quam Plato finxit
    
  • (ambiguous) give me your opinion: dic quid sentias
    
  • (ambiguous) this is more plausible than true: haec speciosiora quam veriora sunt
    
  • (ambiguous) I am undecided..: incertus sum, quid consilii capiam
    
  • (ambiguous) what do you mean to do: quid tibi vis?
    
  • (ambiguous) what is the meaning of this: quid hoc sibi vult?
    
  • (ambiguous) what is the meaning of this: quid hoc rei est?
    
  • (ambiguous) abstruse studies: studia, quae in reconditis artibus versantur (De Or. 1. 2. 8)
    
  • (ambiguous) the usual subjects taught to boys: doctrinae, quibus aetas puerilis impertiri solet (Nep. Att. 1. 2)
    
  • (ambiguous) the usual subjects taught to boys: artes, quibus aetas puerilis ad humanitatem informari solet
    
  • (ambiguous) men of that profession: qui ista profitentur
    
  • (ambiguous) philosophical subjects: quae in philosophia tractantur
    
  • (ambiguous) disciples of Plato, Platonists: qui sunt a Platone or a Platonis disciplina; qui profecti sunt a Platone; Platonici
    
  • (ambiguous) moral science; ethics: philosophia, quae est de vita et moribus (Acad. 1. 5. 19)
    
  • (ambiguous) moral science; ethics: philosophia, in qua de bonis rebus et malis, deque hominum vita et moribus disputatur
    
  • (ambiguous) theoretical, speculative philosophy: philosophia, quae in rerum contemplatione versatur, or quae artis praeceptis continetur
    
  • (ambiguous) practical philosophy: philosophia, quae in actione versatur
    
  • (ambiguous) to determine the nature and constitution of the subject under discussion: constituere, quid et quale sit, de quo disputetur
    
  • (ambiguous) to bring forward a proof of the immortality of the soul: argumentum afferre, quo animos immortales esse demonstratur
    
  • (ambiguous) it follows from this that..: sequitur (not ex quo seq.) ut
    
  • (ambiguous) it follows from this that..: ex quo, unde, hinc efficitur ut
    
  • (ambiguous) the point at issue: id, de quo agitur or id quod cadit in controversiam
    
  • (ambiguous) the connection of thought: ratio, qua sententiae inter se excipiunt.
    
  • (ambiguous) I have exhausted all my material: copiam quam potui persecutus sum
    
  • (ambiguous) to set some one a theme for discussion: ponere alicui, de quo disputet
    
  • (ambiguous) to let those present fix any subject they like for discussion: ponere iubere, qua de re quis audire velit (Fin. 2. 1. 1)
    
  • (ambiguous) the question at issue: res, de qua nunc quaerimus, quaeritur
    
  • (ambiguous) what is the meaning, the original sense of this word: quid significat, sonat haec vox?
    
  • (ambiguous) what is the meaning, the original sense of this word: quae est vis huius verbi?
    
  • (ambiguous) what is the meaning, the original sense of this word: quae notio or sententia subiecta est huic voci?
    
  • (ambiguous) what do we understand by 'a wise man': quem intellegimus sapientem?
    
  • (ambiguous) what do we mean by 'virtue': quae intellegitur virtus
    
  • (ambiguous) what do we mean by 'virtue': quid est virtus?
    
  • (ambiguous) Cicero says in his 'Laelius.: Cicero dicit in Laelio (suo) or in eo (not suo) libro, qui inscribitur Laelius
    
  • (ambiguous) a book which is attributed to some one: liber qui fertur alicuius
    
  • (ambiguous) the book is attributed to an unknown writer: liber refertur ad nescio quem auctorem
    
  • (ambiguous) the reader: legentes, ii qui legunt
    
  • (ambiguous) a letter to Atticus: epistula ad Atticum data, scripta, missa or quae ad A. scripta est
    
  • (ambiguous) what sort of humour are you in: quid tibi animi est?
    
  • (ambiguous) what will become of me: quid (de) me fiet? (Ter. Heaut. 4. 3. 37)
    
  • (ambiguous) there is nothing I am more interested in than..: nihil antiquius or prius habeo quam ut (nihil mihi antiquius or potius est, quam ut)
    
  • (ambiguous) an atheist: qui deum esse negat
    
  • (ambiguous) movable, personal property: res, quae moveri possunt; res moventes (Liv. 5. 25. 6)
    
  • (ambiguous) the necessaries of life: quae ad victum pertinent
    
  • (ambiguous) a livelihood: quae suppeditant ad victum (Off. 1. 4. 12)
    
  • (ambiguous) I have no means, no livelihood: non habeo, qui (unde) vivam
    
  • (ambiguous) to talk of a subject which was then the common topic of conversation: in eum sermonem incidere, qui tum fere multis erat in ore
    
  • (ambiguous) how are you: quid agis?
    
  • (ambiguous) what is going on? how are you getting on: quid agitur? quid fit?
    
  • (ambiguous) imports and exports: res, quae importantur et exportantur
    
  • (ambiguous) the debtor: debitor, or is qui debet
    
  • (ambiguous) the perfume exhaled by flowers: odores, qui efflantur e floribus
    
  • (ambiguous) domestic animals: animalia quae nobiscum degunt (Plin. 8. 40)
    
  • (ambiguous) a legislator: qui leges scribit (not legum lator)
    
  • (ambiguous) aristocracy (as a form of government): civitas, quae optimatium arbitrio regitur
    
  • (ambiguous) the aristocracy (as a party in politics): boni cives, optimi, optimates, also simply boni (opp. improbi); illi, qui optimatium causam agunt
    
  • (ambiguous) the aristocracy (as a social class): nobiles; nobilitas; qui nobilitate generis excellunt
    
  • (ambiguous) the public income from the mines: pecunia publica, quae ex metallis redit
    
  • (ambiguous) let the consuls take measures for the protection of the state: videant or dent operam consules, ne quid res publica detrimenti capiat (Catil. 1. 2. 4)
    
  • (ambiguous) what is your opinion: quid censes? quid tibi videtur?
    
  • (ambiguous) what is your opinion: quid de ea re fieri placet?
    
  • (ambiguous) men of military age: qui arma ferre possunt or iuventus
    
  • (ambiguous) men exempt from service owing to age: qui per aetatem arma ferre non possunt or aetate ad bellum inutiles
    
  • (ambiguous) veterans; experienced troops: qui magnum in castris usum habent
    
  • (ambiguous) by the longest possible forced marches: quam maximis itineribus (potest)
    
  • (ambiguous) the cohort on guard-duty: cohors, quae in statione est
    
  • (ambiguous) subjects: qui imperio subiecti sunt
    
  • (ambiguous) to say the least..: ne (quid) gravius dicam
    
  • (ambiguous) in short; to be brief: ne multa, quid plura? sed quid opus est plura?
    
  • (ambiguous) to sum up..: ut eorum, quae dixi, summam faciam
    
  • (ambiguous) this I have to say: haec habeo dicere or habeo quae dicam
    
  • (ambiguous) from this it appears, is apparent: ex quo intellegitur or intellegi potest, debet
    
  • (ambiguous) from this it appears, is apparent: ex quo perspicuum est
    
  • (ambiguous) no wonder: nec mirum, minime mirum (id quidem), quid mirum?
    
• Sihler, Andrew L. (1995) New Comparative Grammar of Greek and Latin, Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, →ISBN

quis

1. I

• Antonio Maccioni / Machoni, Arte y vocabulario de la lengua lule y tonocoté (1732)

• quiz (obsolete, now a misspelling)

• (Portugal, Carioca) IPA^(key): /ˈkiʃ/
• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈkis/
• Rhymes: -is

quis

1. first-person singular (eu) preterite indicative of querer
2. third-person singular (ele and ela, also used with você and others) preterite indicative of querer