quaero

• (old desiderative?): quaesō

Uncertain. According to Nussbaum and de Vaan, from Proto-Italic *kʷaizeō, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷeh₂- (“to acquire”), via a se/o-present built upon an i-present form *kʷeh₂y- (“to acquire”). In this case, cognates would include Ancient Greek πέπαμαι (pépamai, “to get, acquire”), Old Prussian quoi (“I/you want”) and quāits (“desire”), Lithuanian kviẽsti (“to invite”).^[1]

In some sources etymologized as being from Proto-Indo-European *kʷoys-, *kʷeys- (“to see”), but this was deemed uncertain by Schrijver in 1991.

LIV accepts Szemerényi's 1960 etymology that it is a derivation of *h₂eys- (“to seek, ask”), via the form *koaiseo.

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈkʷae̯.roː]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈkʷɛː.ro]

quaerō (present infinitive quaerere, perfect active quaesīvī or quaesiī, supine quaesītum); third conjugation

1. to seek, look for

   Synonyms: requīrō, studeō, spectō, petō, appetō, affectō, cupiō, concupiō, inquīrō, conquīrō, expetō, dēstinō, sitiō, aveō, voveō, circumspiciō, tendō, intendō

   Antonyms: āversor, abhorreō, dēclīnō

   Quaerendo invenietis ― By seeking ye shall find

   Quaerite Dominum ― Seek ye the Lord

2. to ask, question, seek or search for a thing, inquire, query, interrogate

   Synonyms: scīscitor, percontor, investīgō, scīscō, indāgō, interrogō, requīrō, rogitō, scrūtor

   Quaeritur num mors malum sit. ― The question is whether death is an evil.

   • 20 BCE – 14 BCE, Horace, Epistles IX.9–11:

     Quid quaeris? Vivo et regno, simul ista reliqui
     Quae vos ad caelum fertis rumore secundo,
     Utque sacerdotis fugitivus liba recuso,
     Pane egeo iam mellitis potiore placentis.

     What do you want from me? I live, I am my own master, I left behind the self same things you by common approval so eagerly covet, like the fugitive I have no right to the priest's blessed cake, but bread will quench my hunger over any honeyed delicacy.

3. to strive for; endeavor; seek to obtain

   Synonyms: lūctor, certō, ēlabōrō, cōnītor, cōnor, ēnītor, appetō, affectō, tendō, quaesō, temptō, studeō, circumspiciō, īnsequor, contendō, adnītor, labōrō, pugnō, molior, perīclitor, nītor, spectō

4. to miss, lack
5. to desire, require, want, aim at

   Synonyms: requīrō, affectō, cupiō, aveō, studeō, concupiō, indigeō, sitiō, petō, expetō, spectō, voveō, appetō, dēstinō

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

• quaesō

• “quaero”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “quaero”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “quæro”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette, pages 1,288–9.
• Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894), Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • to court a person's favour; to ingratiate oneself with..: gratiam alicuius sibi quaerere, sequi, more strongly aucupari
    
  • to be guided by ambition: laudem, gloriam quaerere
    
  • a theme, subject proposed for discussion: id quod quaerimus (quaeritur)
    
  • at this point the question arises: hoc loco exsistit quaestio, quaeritur
    
  • the question now is..: nunc id quaeritur, agitur
    
  • the question at issue: res, de qua nunc quaerimus, quaeritur
    
  • to give the etymological explanation of words: nomina enodare or verborum origines quaerere, indagare
    
  • to earn a livelihood by something: victum aliqua re quaerere
    
  • to court popularity: gratiam populi quaerere
    
  • to strive to gain popular favour by certain means: ventum popularem quendam (in aliqua re) quaerere
    
  • to hold an inquiry into a matter: quaerere aliquid or de aliqua re
    
  • to have a person tortured: quaerere tormentis de aliquo
    
  • to examine slaves by torture: de servis quaerere (in dominum)
    
  • to put it exactly: si quaeris, si verum quaerimus
    
• “quaerō” on page 1,533 of the Oxford Latin Dictionary (1st ed., 1968–82)
• Niermeyer, Jan Frederik (1976), “quaerere”, in Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden, Boston: E. J. Brill, page 877
• Sihler, Andrew L. (1995), New Comparative Grammar of Greek and Latin, Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, § 457.B
• Walther von Wartburg (1928–2002), “quaerĕre”, in Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, volume 2: C Q K, page 1409

• aequor