statu quo

See also: statuquo, and statu-quo

English

Etymology

From Latin statū quō (“(in) the state in which”), from statū, ablative singular of status (“state”), + quō (“in which”), ablative singular of quī (“which”). Likely taken from the earlier in statu quo used in English (see, e.g., the 1857 quotation).

Noun

statu quo (plural statu quos)

1. Rare form of status quo.
   • 1857, Sir Archibald Alison, [1st] Bar[one]t, “France from the Capture of Constantine in October 1837, to the Treaty Regulating the Affairs of the East in July 1841”, in History of Europe from the Fall of Napoleon in MDCCCXV to the Accession of Louis Napoleon in MDCCCLII, volume VI, Edinburgh, London: William Blackwood and Sons, pages 47–48:

     The system supported by the French Cabinet was to leave everything in statu quo in the Levant, neither disturbing the Russians in their influence at Constantinople, nor Ibrahim in his Syrian conquests. […]—after the treaties of Adrianople, Unkiar-Skelessi, and Kutaya, and the dismemberment of the half of the empire by Mehemet Ali and yourselves, who protect him,—after all this, to speak of the statu quo, is, allow me to say, as ridiculous as to speak of the existence of Polish nationality. What! are you about to arm for the statu quo of the Turkish empire, which is essential, you say, to the security of Europe, when that statu quo is the dismemberment, the annihilation, the agony, of the empire which you pretend to support?

   • 1877, John Y[ounker] Simon, editor, The Papers of Ulysses S. Grant, volume 28 (November 1, 1876–September 30, 1878), Carbondale, Ill.: Southern Illinois University Press, published 2005, →ISBN, page 117:

     On Jan. 19, Packard telegraphed to USG. “I have this a m Sent Gen Augur information of the capture during last night by the nichols party of the State library and arrest of officers guarding Same Gen Nichols is also appointing officers who are taking possession of the offices in the parishes which seems to be in violation of your orders to have the Statu quo preserved” Telegram received (at 3:50 p.m.), DNA, RG 60, Letters from the President. / On Jan. 21, Pitkin wrote to USG. “I have respectfully to call your attention to a new and serious project of the Nicholls party to interrupt the statu quo in Louisiana, despite the telegram of the Secretary of War on the 16th inst. conveying to Gen. Augur the wish of the President to maintain the present status until the La. Congressional committees shall have reported. […]”

   • 1887, Tid-Bits: An Illustrated Weekly for These Times, volume VII, page 6:

     Nothing causes a people to lose respect for their prince so much as to see him walking on the street or attending a base-ball match with an unpolished crown on his head. It gives them an idea that he is lazy, when such may not really be the case. He may be busy gathering in his crop of statu quos, or milking his casus bellis, but the people will make no allowance on that account.

   • 1901, George C[ochrane] Hazelton, Jr., chapter VIII, in Mistress Nell: A Merry Tale of a Merry Time (’Twixt Fact and Fancy), New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, page 138:

     This was, indeed, a concession on the part of the constable, who was over-weighted with the dignity of the law which he upheld. / “Would’st be at my command,” he continued, “to execute the King’s Statu quos on rogues?”

   • 2020, Joxerramon Bengoetxea, “Secession v forceful union: A provisional enquiry into the right to decide to secede and the obligation to belong”, in Carlos Closa, Costanza Margiotta, Giuseppe Martinico, editors, Between Democracy and Law: The Amorality of Secession, Abingdon, Oxon, New York, N.Y.: Routledge, →ISBN, part I (The theoretical nexus democracy – secession), chapter section VI (Conclusion: shifting the burden of proof):

     These arguments will be based on the rule of law: secession is ruled out because the law does not contemplate it, and if the argument from democracy were to be stretched so far as to contemplate the right to decide as a matter of principle, it would be ruled out because no procedure is available. In other words, statu quo is presented as an absolute impediment. […] what further arguments can state e provide to prevent people p from pursuing the secessionist agenda and force them to remain as part of state e; in other words, “How does a state preserve the statu quo?”

Derived terms

• statu-quo-ite

French

Etymology

From Latin statū quō (“the state in which”), from statū, ablative singular of status (“state”), + quō (“in which”), ablative singular of quī (“which”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sta.ty ko/, /sta.ty kwo/

Noun

statu quo m (plural statu quo)

1. status quo

Further reading

• “statu quo”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Portuguese

Noun

statu quo m (invariable)

1. Alternative form of status quo

Spanish

Alternative forms

• estatu quo, estatus quo, status quo

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin statū quō (literally “in the state in which”), from statū, ablative singular of status (“state”), + quō (“in which”), ablative singular of quī (“which”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /esˌtatu ˈkwo/ [esˌt̪a.t̪u ˈkwo]

Noun

statu quo m (plural statu quo)

1. status quo

Further reading

• “statu quo”, in Diccionario de la lengua española (in Spanish), online version 23.7, Royal Spanish Academy, 2023 November 28