Latin

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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Related to quaerō. Perhaps for *quaessō, desiderative formation with Proto-Indo-European *-(h₁)seti (as in vīsō).[1]

Pronunciation

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Verb

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quaesō (present infinitive quaesere, perfect active quaesīvī or quaesiī, supine quaesītum); third conjugation

  1. to beg or ask (for)
    Synonyms: exposcō, flagitō, efflagitō, exigō, rogō, ērogō, exorō, precor, petō, expetō, prehensō
  2. to seek
    Synonyms: inquīrō, conquīrō, spectō, scrūtor, circumspiciō, quaerō, requīrō
  3. (in first-person) please
     
    A Latin instruction manual for an ATM in the Vatican.

Usage notes

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The verb was used normally by pre-Classical authors. Classically, however, it was used mainly in the first person singular present, quaesō. Other attested forms listed in the Oxford Latin Dictionary are:

  • quaesit, third person singular present active indicative
  • quaesumus, first person plural present active indicative (common in Ecclesiastical Latin)
  • quaesitur, third person singular present passive
  • quaesere, present active infinitive
  • quaesentibus, dative or ablative plural of *quaesens, present active participle
  • quaesendum, inflected form of *quaesendus, future passive participle (gerundive)

Conjugation

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References

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  • quaeso”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • quaeso”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
  • quaeso in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
  1. ^ Sihler, Andrew L. (1995) New Comparative Grammar of Greek and Latin, Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, § 457.B