quiesco

Latin

Etymology

From quiēs (“rest, repose; quiet”) +‎ -scō.

Pronunciation

(Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [kʷiˈeːs.koː]
(modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [kʷiˈɛs.ko]

Aulus Gellius (Noctes Atticae, c. 177) reports that the "e" in this verb was short in the usual pronunciation of his time: a friend of his appealed to common usage when challenged by another friend who argued that it should be long by analogy with the long ē in calēscit, nitēscit, stupēscit and in quiēs. On the other hand, there is evidence for a pronunciation with long "e" in the form of inscriptions that mark the vowel with an apex (CIL VI.6250 and 25521.)^[1]

Verb

quiēscō (present infinitive quiēscere, perfect active quiēvī, supine quiētum); third conjugation, no passive

to rest, sleep, repose
Synonyms: cessō, dormiō, conquiēscō, requiēscō, acquiēscō
- 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Virgil, Aeneid 4.523–524:
  [...,] silvaeque et saeva quiērant / aequora [...].
  [It was night…,] and the forests and fearsome seas had come to rest [...].
  (Syncopated pluperfect: quiē[vē]rant)
to cause to cease, stop, render quiet
(especially of inanimate objects) to be still or quiet, lie still
to remain neutral, abstain from action, keep quiet, stand by
- 166 BCE, Publius Terentius Afer, Andria 604:
  DĀVUS: Hem, āstūtiās! Quod sī quiēssem, nihil ēvēnisset malī.
  DAVUS: Oh, how clever [I've been]! Had I stayed out [of it], nothing bad would have happened.
(in speech) to make a pause
(figuratively) to suffer or allow quietly; permit
Synonym: cōnīveō
(figuratively) to cease, leave off or desist from something
Synonyms: cessō, subsistō, dēsistō, remittō, dēsinō, sistō, conticēscō, trānseō

Antonyms: coepiō, incohō, incipiō

Conjugation

Conjugation of quiēscō (third conjugation, no passive)

indicative		singular				plural
indicative		first	second		third	first	second		third
active	present	quiēscō	quiēscis		quiēscit	quiēscimus	quiēscitis		quiēscunt
	imperfect	quiēscēbam	quiēscēbās		quiēscēbat	quiēscēbāmus	quiēscēbātis		quiēscēbant
	future	quiēscam	quiēscēs		quiēscet	quiēscēmus	quiēscētis		quiēscent
	perfect	quiēvī	quiēvistī, quiēstī¹		quiēvit, quiēt¹	quiēvimus, quiēmus¹	quiēvistis, quiēstis¹		quiēvērunt, quiērunt, quiēvēre¹
	pluperfect	quiēveram, quiēram¹	quiēverās, quiērās¹		quiēverat, quiērat¹	quiēverāmus, quiērāmus¹	quiēverātis, quiērātis¹		quiēverant, quiērant¹
	future perfect	quiēverō, quiērō¹	quiēveris, quiēris¹		quiēverit, quiērit¹	quiēverimus, quiērimus¹	quiēveritis, quiēritis¹		quiēverint, quiērint¹
subjunctive		singular				plural
subjunctive		first	second		third	first	second		third
active	present	quiēscam	quiēscās		quiēscat	quiēscāmus	quiēscātis		quiēscant
	imperfect	quiēscerem	quiēscerēs		quiēsceret	quiēscerēmus	quiēscerētis		quiēscerent
	perfect	quiēverim, quiērim¹	quiēverīs, quiērīs¹		quiēverit, quiērit¹	quiēverīmus, quiērīmus¹	quiēverītis, quiērītis¹		quiēverint, quiērint¹
	pluperfect	quiēvissem, quiēssem¹	quiēvissēs, quiēssēs¹		quiēvisset, quiēsset¹	quiēvissēmus, quiēssēmus¹	quiēvissētis, quiēssētis¹		quiēvissent, quiēssent¹
imperative		singular				plural
imperative		first	second		third	first	second		third
active	present	—	quiēsce		—	—	quiēscite		—
active	future	—	quiēscitō		quiēscitō	—	quiēscitōte		quiēscuntō
non-finite forms		infinitive				participle
non-finite forms		active		passive		active		passive
present		quiēscere		—		quiēscēns		—
future		quiētūrum esse		—		quiētūrus		—
perfect		quiēvisse, quiēsse¹		—		—		—
perfect potential		quiētūrum fuisse		—		—		—
verbal nouns		gerund					supine
		genitive	dative		accusative	ablative	accusative		ablative
		quiēscendī	quiēscendō		quiēscendum	quiēscendō	quiētum		quiētū

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

Derived terms

Related terms

Descendants

Franco-Provençal: queissier
Romansch: quescher ("be silent")^[2]
Sicilian: quèscere (“satisfy the body”, Manduriano dialect)^[3]
→ English: quiesce, quiescent
→ Italian: quiescere
Spanish: quiescente

References

^ Gellius, Attic Nights, Book VII. Translated by J. C. Rolfe. First published with notes in Vol. II of the Loeb Classical Library edition, 1927. Republished online at LacusCurtius by Bill Thayer. Note 51.
^ Dworkin, Steven N. 2016. Lexical stability and shared lexicon. In Ledgeway, Adam & Maiden, Martin (eds.), The Oxford guide to the Romance languages, 577–587. Oxford University Press.
^ Rohlfs, Gerard (1966) Grammatica storica della lingua italiana e dei suoi dialetti, volume I (Fonetica), Turin: Einaudi, page 221: “Davanti a vocale palatale, invece, l’antico suono è rimasto conservato soltanto in casi del tutto sporadici: cfr. nella Valsesia piemontese ku̯è < quid [...]; nel salentino (Manduria) quèscere ‘saziare il corpo’ (quiescere).”