313.
The distributives quisque
(every), uterque (each of two), and unus
quisque (every single one) are used in general
assertions:---
- bonus liber melior est quisque quo maior
(Plin. Ep. i. 20. 4), the larger a good book is, the better (each good book is better in proportion, etc.).
- ambo exercitus suas quisque abeunt domos
(Liv. ii. 7. 1), both armies go away, every man to his home.
- uterque utrique erat exercitus in conspectu
(B. G. vii. 35), each army was in sight of the other (each to each).
- ponite ante oculos unum quemque regum (Par. i. 11),
set before your eyes each of the kings.
a. Quisque regularly stands
in a dependent clause, if there is one:---
- quo quisque est sollertior, hoc docet iracundius
(Rosc. Com. 31), the keener-witted a man is, the more impatiently he
teaches.
NOTE: Quisque is generally postpositive:[1][That
is, it does not stant first in its clause.] as, suum cuique,
to every man his own.
b. Quisque is idiomatically
used with Superlatives and with ordinal numerals:---
- nobilissimus quisque, all the
noblest (one after the other in the order of their nobility).[2][As,
in taking things one by one off a pile, each thing is uppermost when you
take it.]
- primo quoque tempore (Rosc. Am. 36), at the very
first opportunity.
- antiquissimum quodque tempus (B. G. i. 45), the
most ancient times.
- decimus quisque (id. v. 52), one in
ten.
NOTE 1: Two superlatives with quisque imply a
proportion: as,---sapientissimus quisque aequissimo animo moritur
(Cat. M. 83), the wisest men die with the greatest equanimity.
NOTE 2: Quotus quisque has the signification of
how many, pray? often in a disparaging sense (how few):---
- quotus enim quisque
disertus? quotus quisque iuris peritus est
(Planc. 62), for how few are eloquent! how few are learned in the
law!
- quotus enim istud quisque
fecisset (Lig. 26), for how many would have done this? [i.e.
scarcely anybody would have done it].
Contents
Section 312
Section 314
Allen and Greenough's New Latin Grammar, section 313