quiesco

Latin

Etymology

From quiēs (“rest, repose; quiet”) +‎ -scō.

Pronunciation

(Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /kʷiˈeːs.koː/, [kʷiˈeːs̠koː]
(modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /kwiˈes.ko/, [kwiˈɛsko]

Aulus Gellius (Noctes Atticae, c. 177) reports that in the usual pronunciation of his time, the "e" was short; a friend of his justified this pronunciation by appeal to common usage when challenged by another friend who argued that it should be long by analogy with the long ē in calescit, nitescit, stupescit and in quiēs. On the other hand, there is inscriptional evidence of long "e" in this word in the form of inscriptions which mark it with an apex (CIL VI.6250 and 25521.)^[1]

Verb

quiēscō (present infinitive quiēscere, perfect active quiēvī, supine quiētum); third conjugation, no passive

to rest, sleep, repose
Synonyms: cessō, dormiō, conquiēscō, requiēscō, acquiēscō
to cause to cease, stop, render quiet
(especially of inanimate objects) to be still or quiet, lie still
to remain neutral, abstain from action, keep quiet, stand by
(in speech) to make a pause
(figuratively) to suffer or allow quietly; permit
Synonym: cōnīveō
(figuratively) to cease, leave off or desist from something
Synonyms: cessō, subsistō, dēsistō, remittō, dēsinō, sistō, conticēscō, trānseō

Antonyms: coepiō, incohō, incipiō

Conjugation

Conjugation of quiēscō (third conjugation, active only)
indicative		singular			plural
indicative		first	second	third	first	second	third
active	present	quiēscō	quiēscis	quiēscit	quiēscimus	quiēscitis	quiēscunt
	imperfect	quiēscēbam	quiēscēbās	quiēscēbat	quiēscēbāmus	quiēscēbātis	quiēscēbant
	future	quiēscam	quiēscēs	quiēscet	quiēscēmus	quiēscētis	quiēscent
	perfect	quiēvī	quiēvistī, quiēstī¹	quiēvit, quiēt¹	quiēvimus, quiēmus¹	quiēvistis, quiēstis¹	quiēvērunt, quiēvēre, quiērunt¹
	pluperfect	quiēveram, quiēram¹	quiēverās, quiērās¹	quiēverat, quiērat¹	quiēverāmus, quiērāmus¹	quiēverātis, quiērātis¹	quiēverant, quiērant¹
	future perfect	quiēverō, quiērō¹	quiēveris, quiēris¹	quiēverit, quiērit¹	quiēverimus, quiērimus¹	quiēveritis, quiēritis¹	quiēverint, quiērint¹
subjunctive		singular			plural
subjunctive		first	second	third	first	second	third
active	present	quiēscam	quiēscās	quiēscat	quiēscāmus	quiēscātis	quiēscant
	imperfect	quiēscerem	quiēscerēs	quiēsceret	quiēscerēmus	quiēscerētis	quiēscerent
	perfect	quiēverim, quiērim¹	quiēverīs, quiērīs¹	quiēverit, quiērit¹	quiēverīmus, quiērīmus¹	quiēverītis, quiērītis¹	quiēverint, quiērint¹
	pluperfect	quiēvissem, quiēssem¹	quiēvissēs, quiēssēs¹	quiēvisset, quiēsset¹	quiēvissēmus, quiēssēmus¹	quiēvissētis, quiēssētis¹	quiēvissent, quiēssent¹
imperative		singular			plural
imperative		first	second	third	first	second	third
active	present	—	quiēsce	—	—	quiēscite	—
active	future	—	quiēscitō	quiēscitō	—	quiēscitōte	quiēscuntō
non-finite forms		active			passive
non-finite forms		present	perfect	future	present	perfect	future
infinitives		quiēscere	quiēvisse, quiēsse¹	quiētūrum esse	—	—	—
participles		quiēscēns	—	quiētūrus	—	—	—
verbal nouns		gerund				supine
		genitive	dative	accusative	ablative	accusative	ablative
		quiēscendī	quiēscendō	quiēscendum	quiēscendō	quiētum	quiētū

¹At least one rare poetic syncopated perfect form is attested.

Derived terms

Related terms

Descendants

Franco-Provençal: queissier
Romansch: quescher ("be silent")^[2]
Sicilian: quèscere (“satisfy the body”, Manduriano dialect)^[3]
→ English: quiesce, quiescent

References

^ Gellius, Attic Nights, Book VII. Translated by J. C. Rolfe. First published with notes in Vol. II of the Loeb Classical Library edition, 1927. Republished online at LacusCurtius by Bill Thayer. Note 51.
^ Dworkin, Steven N. 2016. Lexical stability and shared lexicon. In Ledgeway, Adam & Maiden, Martin (eds.), The Oxford guide to the Romance languages, 577–587. Oxford University Press.
^ Rohlfs, Gerard (1966) Grammatica storica della lingua italiana e dei suoi dialetti, volume I (Fonetica), Turin: Einaudi, page 221: “Davanti a vocale palatale, invece, l’antico suono è rimasto conservato soltanto in casi del tutto sporadici: cfr. nella Valsesia piemontese ku̯è < quid [...]; nel salentino (Manduria) quèscere ‘saziare il corpo’ (quiescere).”

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

[1] Gellius, Attic Nights, Book VII. Translated by J. C. Rolfe. First published with notes in Vol. II of the Loeb Classical Library edition, 1927. Republished online at LacusCurtius by Bill Thayer. Note 51.

[2] Dworkin, Steven N. 2016. Lexical stability and shared lexicon. In Ledgeway, Adam & Maiden, Martin (eds.), The Oxford guide to the Romance languages, 577–587. Oxford University Press.

[3] Rohlfs, Gerard (1966) Grammatica storica della lingua italiana e dei suoi dialetti, volume I (Fonetica), Turin: Einaudi, page 221: “Davanti a vocale palatale, invece, l’antico suono è rimasto conservato soltanto in casi del tutto sporadici: cfr. nella Valsesia piemontese ku̯è < quid [...]; nel salentino (Manduria) quèscere ‘saziare il corpo’ (quiescere).”

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