quantus

Latin

Etymology

From Proto-Italic *kʷijentos, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷíh₂onts (“how much, how many”), from *kʷíh₂, neuter plural of *kʷís. Cognate with Ashkun ćīt, Waigali kiti, Sanskrit कियत् (kiyat), Avestan 𐬗𐬎𐬎𐬀𐬧𐬙 (cuuaṇt).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈkʷan.tus/, [ˈkʷän̪t̪ʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈkwan.tus/, [ˈkwän̪t̪us]

Adjective

quantus (feminine quanta, neuter quantum); first/second-declension adjective

1. how much, how many
2. how big or how great
   • 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Virgil, Aeneid 4.48-49:

     “[...] Teucrum comitantibus armīs / Pūnica sē quantīs attollet glōria rēbus!”

     “With the arms of Troy accompanying our own, Punic renown will arise through such great deeds!”

3. as much, great, or far as, etc., expressing a relative proportion or related quantity
   • 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Virgil, Aeneid 4.445–446:

     [...] ipsa haeret scopulīs et, quantum vertice ad aurās / aetheriās, tantum rādīce in Tartara tendit.

     [The wind and the oak tree:] the [tree] itself holds tight to bedrock and, as high as its peak [towers] to heavenly air, to that extent its roots stretch [down] to Tartarus.

Usage notes

• Being an adjective in its most basic function, quantus was then used substantively as quantum (with genitive) to mean "as much of...as"; as quantī (pretiī) to mean "how high (a price)", "as high (a price) as", "how dear", "as dear as"; adverbially as quantum to mean "as much as" (cf. quam); as quantō to mean "by how much", "by as much as". For all these tantus has its coordinate functions.

Declension

First/second-declension adjective.

Number	Singular				Plural
Case / Gender	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter		Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	quantus	quanta	quantum		quantī	quantae	quanta
Genitive	quantī	quantae	quantī		quantōrum	quantārum	quantōrum
Dative	quantō		quantō		quantīs
Accusative	quantum	quantam	quantum		quantōs	quantās	quanta
Ablative	quantō	quantā	quantō		quantīs
Vocative	quante	quanta	quantum		quantī	quantae	quanta

Coordinate terms

• tantus

Derived terms

• quantitās
• quantopere
• quantulus
• quantusvīs

Related terms

Latin correlatives ^(edit)

type	demonstrative			anaphoric	identity	interrogative/ relative	indefinite					negative	other
	proximal	medial	distal				relative	indefinite	free choice	universal	negative polarity
basic	hic	iste, istic	ille, illic	is	ipse, īdem	quis/quī	quisquis, quīcumque	quis, quī, quīdam, aliquis, aliquī, quispiam	quīvis, quīlibet	quisque	quisquam, ūllus, °aliquisquam	nēmō, nihil, nūllus	alius
dual						uter	utercumque	alteruter	utervīs, uterlibet	uterque		neuter	alter
place	hīc	istīc	illīc	ibī̆	ibī̆dem	ubī̆	ubiubi, ubī̆cumque	alicubī, uspiam	ubivīs, ubilibet	ubīque	usquam	nusquam, nūllibī	alibī, aliās
source	hinc	istinc	illinc	inde	indidem	unde	undecumque, undeunde	alicunde	°undelibet	undique			aliunde
destination	hūc, °hōrsum	istūc, °istōrsum	illūc, °illōrsum	eō	eōdem	quō, quōrsum	quōquō, quōcumque	aliquō, quōpiam, °aliquōvorsum	quōvīs, quōlibet		quōquam	nusquam, nūllōrsum	aliō, aliōrsum
method, means, path, place	hāc	istāc	illāc	eā	eādem	quā	quāquā, quācumque	aliquā	quāvīs, quālibet	quāque		nēquāquam, haudquāquam	aliā
manner	hōc modō	istō modō	illō modō	ita, sīc, eō modō	item, itidem	ut, quī, quō modō, quōmodo, quemadmodum	utut, utcumque, quōmodocumque	quī, quōdam modō, aliquō modō	quōmodolibet	utīque	ūllō modō	nūllō modō	aliter, aliōquī, alterō/aliō modō
time	num, nunc		ōlim	tum, tunc	simul	quandō, ‡cum	cumque, quandōcumque, quandōque	quondam, aliquandō	quandōlibet	quandōque	umquam	numquam	aliās
quantity				tam	†tamen, †tandem	quam	†quamquam	aliquam	quamvīs, quamlibet
size				tantus	tantusdem	quantus	quantuscumque	aliquantus	quantusvīs, quantuslibet
quality				tālis		quālis	quālis, quāliscumque	aliquālis	quālislibet
number				tot	totidem	quot	quotquot, quotcumque	aliquot	quotlibet
order				totus		quotus	quotuscumque	aliquotus	quotuslibet
repetition				totiēns		quotiēns	quotiēnscumque	aliquotiēns	quotiēnslibet
multiplication				totuplex		quotuplex
† Turned conjunction with original meaning somewhat dissimulated ° Rare ‡only used as a conjunction, not as an interrogative

Descendants

• Aromanian: cãt (through conflation with quotus)
• Asturian: cuántu
• Aragonese: quan
• Catalan: quant
• Dalmatian: cont
• Franco-Provençal: quint (through confusion with quinam)
• French: quant
• → Interlingua: quante
• Italian: quanto
• Lombard: quat
• Megleno-Romanian: cǫt (through conflation with quotus)
• Neapolitan: quanto
• Occitan: quant
• Old Galician-Portuguese: quanto
  • Galician: canto
  • Portuguese: quanto
• Romanian: cât (through conflation with quotus)
• Romansch: quant, cont, quaunt
• Sardinian: cantu
• Sicilian: quantu
• Spanish: cuanto, cuánto
• Venetan: cuanto

References

• “quantus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “quantus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• quantus in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• quantus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • (ambiguous) as far as I can guess: quantum ego coniectura assequor, auguror
    
  • (ambiguous) as far as I know: quantum scio
    
  • (ambiguous) I am not dissatisfied with my progress: non me paenitet, quantum profecerim
    
  • (ambiguous) to take only enough food to support life: tantum cibi et potionis adhibere quantum satis est
    
• “quantity”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.