# quaero
## Latin
### Alternative forms

* (old desiderative?): quaesō

### Etymology

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”).
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.

### Pronunciation

* (Classical Latin) IPA: /ˈkʷae̯.roː/, [ˈkʷäe̯roː]
* (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA: /ˈkwe.ro/, [ˈkwɛːro]

### Verb

quaerō (present infinitive quaerere, perfect active quaesīvī or quaesiī, supine quaesītum); third conjugation
* 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
* 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.
* 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
* to miss, lack
* to desire, require, want, aim at
    Synonyms: requīrō, affectō, cupiō, aveō, studeō, concupiō, indigeō, sitiō, petō, expetō, spectō, voveō, appetō, dēstinō

#### Conjugation

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

#### Derived terms

* acquīrō
* anquīrō
* conquīrō
* disquīrō
* exquīrō
* inquīrō
* perquīrō
* quaerendus
* quaerēns
* quaeritō
* quaeritur
* quaesītiō
* quaesītor, quaestor
* quaesītus
* quaestiō
* quaestus
* requīrō

#### Related terms

* quaesō

#### Descendants

* Balkan Romance:
** Aromanian: tser, tsireari
** Romanian: cere, cerere
* Italo-Romance:
** Corsican: chera, chere
** Italian: cherere, chierere (archaic), chiedere
* Insular Romance:
** Sardinian: cherere, querere, chèrri
* North Italian:
** Friulian: cirî
** Ladin: crì
** Old Lombard: querir
** Old Venetan: querir
* Gallo-Romance:
** Old Catalan: querre, querir, querer
** Old French: querre, quere, querir
*** Bourguignon: queri
*** Champenois: queri
*** Franc-Comtois: tchri
*** Middle French: querir
**** French: quérir
***** Sabir: quérir
*** Picard: queurre
*** Walloon: cweri
*** → English: quest
** Old Occitan: querre, quere
*** Occitan: quèrre
* Ibero-Romance:
** Aragonese: querer
** Asturian: querer
** Extremaduran: querel
** Leonese: querere
** Mirandese: querer
** Mozarabic: كارش (kāriš) (2SG; from Latin quaeris)
** Old Galician-Portuguese: querer
*** Galician: querer
*** Portuguese: querer
** Spanish: querer
* Vulgar Latin:
** *acquaerere (see there for further descendants)
* Borrowings:
** → Albanian: qeroj
** → Middle English: quaere
*** English: query

### References

* ↑ De Vaan, Michiel (2008) “quaerō, quaesō”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 503-4

### Further reading

* “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, 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

### Anagrams

* aequor