nequiquam

Latin

Alternative forms

• necquicquam
• nēquicquam
• nēquidquam

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /neːˈkʷiː.kʷam/, [neːˈkʷiːkʷä̃ˑ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /neˈkwi.kwam/, [neˈkwiːkwäm]

Adverb

nēquīquam (not comparable)

1. In vain, vainly, needlessly, uselessly, fruitlessly, pointlessly; to no purpose or effect, without ground or reason

   Synonyms: īnfēlīciter, frūstrā, supervacuō

   • Gaius Valerius Catullus, Catullus 101:

     et mūtam nequīquam alloquerer cinerem.

     And (to) talk in vain to silent ash.

   • 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Virgil, Aeneid 4.208–209:

     “[...] an tē, genitor, cum fulmina torquēs, / nēquīquam horrēmus [...].”

     “Or when you hurl thunderbolts, Father [Jupiter], [do we] tremble vainly?”

References

• “nequiquam”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “nequiquam”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• nequiquam in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.