quam

See also: Quam, quặm, and QAM

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈkʷãː]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈkʷam]

Etymology 1

From Proto-Italic *kʷis, *kʷoi, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷeh₂m, accusative of *kʷeh₂, feminine of *kʷos, *kʷís. Compare its masculine form cum (as in tum-tam).

According to L. R. Palmer, "In such a sentence as hic tam beatus est, quam ille the sense of tam beatus could equally be rendered by non beatior. It was presumably by the substitution of equivalent expressions ('contamination'), possibly first in negative expressions, that the illogical quam 'as' came to be used after comparatives."

Alternative forms

• quamde, quande

Adverb

quam

2. (before superlative adjectives and adverbs) in what (which) way, to what (which) degree; how, how much, as much as, as far as

   Near-synonyms: (along verbs) quantum, quoad

   quam primum ― as quickly as possible

   quam celerrime ― as quickly as possible

   quam maxime ― as far as possible

   quam minimum ― as little as possible

   quam serissime ― as late as possible

   quam saepissime ― much often

   Quam rogas! ― How much you ask!

   • 161 BCE, Publius Terentius Afer, Eunuchus 1–3:

     Si quisquamst qui placere se studeat bonis
     quam plurumis et minume multos laedere,
     in is poeta hic nomen profitetur suom.

     If there's anyone who dedicates themselves to pleasing as many good citizens as possible and wounding as few, the poet [Terence] places his own name amongst these.

   • 23 BCE – 13 BCE, Horatius, Carmina 1.11:

     carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero

     pluck the day, trusting the next [day] as little as possible

   • c. 52 BCE, Julius Caesar, Commentarii de bello Gallico 7.8:

     Equitibus imperat, ut quam latissime possint vagentur et quam maximum hostibus terrorem inferant

     He orders the cavalry to extend themselves as far as they could, and strike as great a panic as possible into the enemy

   • c. 52 BCE, Julius Caesar, Commentarii de bello Gallico 7.9:

     ut in omnes partes equites quam latissime pervagentur

     that the cavalry should range as extensively as possible in all directions

   • c. 52 BCE, Julius Caesar, Commentarii de bello Gallico 7.9:

     quam maximis potest itineribus

     by marches as forced as he could

     (literally, “by as long journeys as he can”)

   • c. 52 BCE, Julius Caesar, Commentarii de bello Gallico 7.11:

     Ipse, ut quam primum iter faceret

     He himself, with the intention of marching as soon as possible

4. (in comparisons) as

   Tam similis est huius quam [similis esse] potest.

   He is as similar as he can be to him.

Conjunction

quam

1. (after comparative adjectives and adverbs) than

   Synonym: atque / ac

   alius quam ― different than

   ante quam (+ subjunctive or infinitive) ― sooner than

   aliter quam vis ― in a different way than you want

   Hic maior est quam ille.

   He is bigger than him.

   • 68 BCE – 44 BCE, Cicero, Epistulae ad Atticum 4.4A:

     offendēs dissignātiōnem Tyranniōnis mīrificam librōrum meōrum, quōrum reliquiae multō meliōrēs sunt quam putāram

     You will encounter Tyrannio's wonderful arrangement of my books, the remains of which are much better than I had thought.

   • c. 52 BCE, Julius Caesar, Commentarii de bello Gallico 7.9:

     Priusque omnes in unum locum cogit quam de eius adventu Arvernis nuntiari posset

     and gathers all legions into one place sooner than (before) the intelligence of his arrival could be announced to the Arverni

   • c. 52 BCE, Julius Caesar, Commentarii de bello Gallico 7.10:

     Praestare visum est tamen omnis difficultates perpeti quam tanta contumelia accepta

     However it seemed better to sustain any hardship than to accept such an insult

   • 27 BCE – 25 BCE, Titus Livius, Ab urbe condita 1.35.4:

     [Tarquinius dicit] maiorem partem aetatis eius qua civilibus officiis fungantur homines, Romae se quam in vetere patria vixisse

     Tarquin said that he had lived in Rome a greater part of that age during which men held public offices than he had in his city of birth

   • c. 347 CE – 420 CE, Hieronymus, Vulgate Tobias 2:9:

     sed Tobias plus timens Deum quam regem rapiebat corpora occisorum et occultabat in domo sua et mediis noctibus sepeliebat ea

     But Tobias fearing God more than the king, carried off the bodies of them that were slain, and hid them in his house, and at midnight buried them.

Coordinate terms

• tam

Derived terms

• aliquisquam
• (Vulgar Latin) *dunquam
• haudquaquam
• nequaquam
• numquam
• nusquam
• perquam
• priusquam
• quamdiū
• quamobrem
• quamplures
• quamprimum
• quamquam
• quamvis
• quandō
• quantus
• quasi
• quisquam
• quōquam
• tamquam
• umquam
• usquam

Related terms

Latin correlatives ^(edit)

type	demonstrative			anaphoric	identity	interrogative or basic relative	indefinite							alternative
	proximal	medial	distal				relative	irrelative	free choice	universal	positive polarity	negative polarity	negative
basic	hic	iste istic	ille illic	is	ᵉipse īdem	quis quī	quīcumque quisquis	quīdam aliquis, quis aliquī, quī nesciō quis	quīvis quīlibet	quisque	quispiam	quisquam hīlum ūllus	nēmō̆ nihil nūllus	alius
ᵇcomparative	huiusmodī ᵉhuiuscemodī	istī̆usmodī ᵉistī̆uscemodī	illī̆usmodī ᵉillī̆uscemodī	eiusmodī	eiusdemmodī	cuiusmodī	cuiusmodīcumque	alicuiusmodī cuiusdammodī	cuiusvīsmodī	cuiusquemodī			°nūllī̆usmodī	alterī̆usmodī alīusmodī
dual						uter	utercumque	alteruter	utervīs uterlibet	uterque			neuter	alter
place	hīc	istīc	illīc	ibī̆	ibī̆dem	ubī̆	ubī̆cumque °ubiubī̆	alicubī̆	ubivīs ubilibet	ubīque	uspiam	usquam °ubīquam	nusquam nūllibī	alibī aliās
source	hinc	istinc °istim	illinc °illim	inde ªim	indidem	unde °cum	undecumque °undeunde	alicunde	°undelibet	undique		°undiquam	°nūllunde	aliunde
destination	hūc hōc °hōrsum	istūc istō, istōc °istōrsum	illūc illō, illōc °illōrsum	eō	eōdem	quō quōrsum	quōcumque quōquō °quōrsumcumque	aliquō °aliquōvorsum	quōvīs quōlibet	quōque	quōpiam uspiam	usquam quōquam ªūllō	nusquam ªnihilō ªnūllō °nūllōrsum	aliō aliōrsum
means, way, path, place	hāc	ªistā istāc	ªillā illāc	eā	eādem	quā quārē	quācumque quāquā	aliquā	quāvīs quālibet	°quāque	°quāpiam	°quāquam ªūllā	nēquāquam ªnūllā ᵉhaudquāquam	aliā
ᵇdistance	hāctenus	°istātenus °istāctenus	°illātenus °illāctenus	eātenus		quātenus	°quātenuscumque °quāquātenus	aliquātenus quādantenus	°quātenusvīs °quātenuslibet			ūllātenus	nūllātenus	aliātenus
ᵇreason	°hācpropter °hōccircā	°istāpropter	°illāpropter	eāpropter proptereā eōcircā idcircō ideō		ᶜcūr quāpropter quōcircā quārē †quia								°aliāpropter
ᵇmanner	hōc modō	istō modō	illō modō	ita ᵉsīc eō modō	item itidem eādem operā eōdem modō	ut prout °quem quō modō quōmodo ᵉquemadmodum	utcumque °utut °proutcumque quōmodocumque °ᵉquemadmodumcumque	quōdam modō aliquō modō	quōmodolibet	utīque quōque modō	quōpiam modō	°utiquam ūllō modō	nihil neutiquam °neutī̆que nūllō modō	aliter alterō/aliō modō
instrument, matter, knowledge						quī ᵉquīn °quīcum	quīcumque	quī °aliquī	°quīlibet	°quīque	°quia	°quīquam	nihilō nēquīquam	aliōquī ᵉaliōquīn
time	†num nunc		ōlim	tum tunc	simul	quandō̆ ‡cum	quandōcumque quandōque cumque °quandōnē °ᵉquandōquandō °cumcumque	quondam aliquandō̆	°quandōlibet	quandōque	†quoniam	umquam	numquam	aliās
quantity				tam	†tamen †tandem	quam	quamcumque †quamquam	aliquam	quamvīs quamlibet	quamque
size				tantus	tantusdem	quantus	quantuscumque quantusquantus	aliquantus	quantusvīs quantuslibet	quantusque
quality				tālis		quālis	quāliscumque quālisquālis	aliquālis	quālislibet	quālisque
number				tot	totidem	quot	quotquot quotcumque	aliquot	quotlibet
order/fractional				totus		quotus	°quotuscumque	°aliquotus	°quotuslibet	°quotusque °quotusquisque
repetition				totiēns		quotiēns	quotiēnscumque	aliquotiēns	quotiēnslibet	quotiēnsque °quotiēnsquisque			°nūllotiēns
† Turned conjunction with original meaning somewhat changed ° Rare ‡ Only used as a conjunction, not as an interrogative. ª Used almost exclusively to form locutions or compounds. ᵇ All locutions ending in modī, modō, propter, circā or tenus can be univerbalized and vice versa, except de, secus and if another suffix, such as -cumque, -que or -libet, follows them, quemadmodum can also come as a locution in "quem ad modum", quārē can even also come separately especially if accompanied by a preposition, such as dē. ᶜ Used purely and simply as an interrogative in direct questions (then irrelative), its relative meaning is somewhat lost, if it ever had one. ᵉemphatic

Descendants

• Asturian: (obsolete) cuán (“so many”)
• French: que (“than, as”)
• Italian: ca (“than, that”)
• Neapolitan: ca (“than, that”)
• Old Galician-Portuguese: quan; ca
  • Galician: can (“how”); ca (“than”)
  • Portuguese: quão (“how, as”); ca (“than”) (northern)
• Romanian: ca (“than, as”)
• Romansh: ca (“than”)
• Sicilian: ca (“than, that”)
• Spanish: cuan (“how”)

Etymology 2

Inherited from Proto-Italic *kʷām, see quī (relative pronoun and interrogative adjective).

Pronoun

quam

1. (relative) accusative singular feminine of quī

Determiner

quam

1. (interrogative) accusative singular feminine of quī

Etymology 3

Analogically reshaped from Proto-Italic *kʷim, see quem.

Pronoun

quam

1. (interrogative) accusative singular feminine of quis

Alternative forms

• quem (Old Latin)

Further reading

• “quam”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “quam”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• "quam", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• “quam”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette, pages 1,290–1,291.
• Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894), Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • (ambiguous) I cannot wait till..: nihil mihi longius est or videtur quam dum or quam ut
    
  • (ambiguous) nothing is more tiresome to me than..: nihil mihi longius est quam (c. Inf.)
    
  • (ambiguous) it is more than twenty years ago: amplius sunt (quam) viginti anni or viginti annis
    
  • (ambiguous) Plato's ideal republic: illa civitas, quam Plato finxit
    
  • (ambiguous) this is more plausible than true: haec speciosiora quam veriora sunt
    
  • (ambiguous) I have exhausted all my material: copiam quam potui persecutus sum
    
  • (ambiguous) there is nothing I am more interested in than..: nihil antiquius or prius habeo quam ut (nihil mihi antiquius or potius est, quam ut)
    
  • (ambiguous) by the longest possible forced marches: quam maximis itineribus (potest)
    
• Dizionario Latino, Olivetti
• quam in Ramminger, Johann (10 October 2026 (last accessed)), Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700‎^[2], pre-publication website, 2005-2016
• “quam” on pages 1,537–1,538 of the Oxford Latin Dictionary (1st ed., 1968–82)

Middle Dutch

Verb

quam

1. first/third-person singular past indicative of cōmen

Middle English

Pronoun

quam

1. (Northern) alternative form of whom (“who, whom”, accusative)

Middle High German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (before 13^th CE) /ˈkwam/

Verb

quam

1. first/third-person singular preterite indicative of quëmen

Old High German

Verb

quam

1. first/third-person singular preterite indicative of quëman

Old Saxon

Verb

quam

1. first/third-person singular preterite indicative of kuman