quaero

Latin > English (Lewis & Short)

quaero: (old orthogr. QVAIRO, Epitaphs of the Scipios, 6; for the original form and etym. quaeso, ĕre, v. quaeso), sīvi or sĭi, sītum, 3, v. a.,
I to seek.
I Lit.
   A In gen.: aliquem, Enn. ap. Cic. Div. 1, 20, 40 (Ann. v. 43 Vahl.); Plaut. Mil. 2, 3, 3: te ipsum quaerebam, Ter. Heaut. 4, 8, 3: escam in sterquilinio, Phaedr. 3, 12 init.—
   B In partic.
   1    To seek to get or procure, to seek or search for a thing, Ter. Heaut. 3, 1, 38: rem mercaturis faciendis, Cic. Par. 6, 2, 46.—Absol.: contrivi in quaerendo vitam atque aetatem meam, Ter. Ad. 5, 4, 15; 5, 3, 27; Hor. Ep. 1, 7, 57; id. A. P. 170.—
   b Transf., to get, procure, obtain, acquire a thing: uxores liberorum quaerendorum causā ducere, Suet. Caes. 52: liberorum quaerundorum causā ei uxor data est, Plaut. Capt. 4, 2, 109; cf.: quaerunt litterae hae sibi liberos, id. Ps. 1, 1, 21.—
   2    To seek for something missing, to miss: Siciliam in uberrimā Siciliae parte, Cic. Verr. 2, 3, 18, § 47: optatos Tyndaridas, Prop. 1, 17, 18: Phoebi comam, Tib. 2, 3, 20: amnes, Stat. Th. 4, 703.—
   3    To ask, desire, with ut and subj.: quaeris ut suscipiam cogitationem quidnam istis agendum putem, Cic. Att. 14, 20, 4.—
II Trop.
   A In gen., to seek, i. e. to think over, meditate, aim at, plan a thing: dum id quaero, tibi qui filium restituerem, Ter. Heaut. 3, 1, 83: quonam modo maxime ulti sanguinem nostrum pereamus, Sall. C. 33,5: fugam, Cic. Att. 7, 17, 1; id. Mur. 37, 80: sibi remedium ad rem aliquam, id. Clu. 9, 27: de gratiā quid significares, mecum ipse quaerebam, id. Att. 9, 11, A, 1.—With inf.: tristitiae causam si quis cognoscere quaerit, seeks, strives, endeavors, Ov. Tr. 5, 4, 7; id. Am. 1, 8, 51; Hor. C. 3, 4, 39; id. Ep. 1, 1, 2 al.—
   B In partic.
   1    To look for, seek to gain any thing; to get, acquire, obtain, procure: laudem sibi, Ter. Heaut. 2, 3, 74: salutem alicui malo, id. Ad. 3, 2, 2: negabant ullā aliā in re nisi in naturā quaerendum esse illud summum bonum, Cic. Ac. 1, 5, 19: pudentem exitum suae impudentiae, id. Verr. 2, 1, 1, § 2: invidiam in aliquem, id. Rab. Post. 17, 46. —
   2    Of inanim. and abstr. subjects, to demand, need, require, = requirere: quod cujusquam oratoris eloquentiam quaereret, Cic. Verr. 2, 1, 10, § 29: lites ex limitibus judicem quaerant, Varr. R. R. 1, 15, 1: bellum dictatoriam majestatem quaesivisset, Liv. 8, 30: quaerit Boeotia Dircen, Ov. M. 2, 239. —
   3    To seek to learn from any one; to ask, inquire, interrogate (cf.: interrogo, percontor).
   (a)    With ab: cum ab iis saepius quaereret, made inquiries, Caes. B. G. 1, 32: quaero abs te nunc, Hortensi, cum, etc., Cic. Verr. 2, 3, 83, § 191: quaesivit a medicis, quemadmodum se haberet, Nep. Dion, 2, 4: a quo cum quaesisset, quo se deduci vellet, id. Epam. 4, 5; cf. Cic. N. D. 1, 22, 60. —
   (b)    With de: quaerebat paulo ante de me, quid, etc., Cic. Pis. 9, 18: de te ipso quaero, Vatini, utrum, etc., id. Vatin. 4, 10: quaero de te, arbitrerisne, etc., Liv. 4, 40: cura tibi de quo quaerere nulla fuit, Ov. P. 4, 3, 18.—
   (g)    With ex: quaesivi ex Phaniā, quam in partem provinciae putaret, etc., Cic. Fam. 3, 6, 1: quaerit ex solo ea, quae, etc., Caes. B. G. 1, 18.—
   (d)    With a rel.-clause: ille baro te putabat quaesiturum, unum caelum esset an innumerabilia, Cic. Fam. 9, 26, 3: natura fieret laudabile carmen, an arte, Quaesitum est, Hor. A. P. 409: quaeritur inter medicos, cujus generis aquae sint utilissimae, Plin. 31, 3, 21, § 31.—
   4    To desire,
   a With inf. (post-Aug.): e monte aliquo in alium transilire quaerens, Plin. 8, 53, 79, § 214: qui mutare sedes quaerebant, Tac. G. 2.—
   b Transf., of animals, plants, etc., to desire, prefer, seek: salictum et harundinetum ... umidum locum quaerunt, Varr. R. R. 1, 23, 5: glires aridum locum quaerunt, id. ib. 3, 15, 2; Col. 1, praef. § 26: lupinum quaerit maxime sabulosa, Plin. 18, 14, 36, § 134; so of the soil: ager aquosus plus stercoris quaerit, demands, Pall. 1, 6, 15.—
   5    To examine or inquire into judicially, to investigate, institute an investigation; with acc. (rare): hunc abduce, vinci, rem quaere, Ter. Ad. 3 (4), 36: non dubitabat Minucius, quin iste (Verres) illo die rem illam quaesiturus non esset, Cic. Verr. 2, 2, 29, § 72. —With de and abl. (class.; cf. Krebs, Autibarb. p. 962 sq.): de pecuniis repetundis, Cic. Verr. 1, 9, 27: de morte alicujus, id. Rosc. Am. 41, 119: de servo in dominum, to question by torture, put to the rack, id. Mil. 22, 59: aliquid per tormenta, Suet. Tib. 58: legibus, to investigate according to the laws, impartially, Plin. Ep. 5, 21, 3. —
   b Transf.: si quaeris, si quaerimus (prop., if we, or you, look well into the matter; if we, or you, would know the truth), to say the truth, in fact, to speak honestly: omnino, si quaeris, ludi apparatissimi, Cic. Fam. 7, 1, 2: at sunt morosi, et anxii, et difficiles senes: si quaerimus, etiam avari, id. Sen. 18, 65: si quaeritis, id. de Or. 2, 62, 254; so, too, si verum quaeris, id. Fam. 12, 8, 1: si verum quaeritis, id. de Or. 2, 34, 146: si verum quaerimus, id. Tusc. 2, 23, 55: noli quaerere or quid quaeris? in short, in one word: noli quaerere: ita mihi pulcher hic dies visus est, id. Fam. 4, 4, 3: quid quaeris? biduo factus est mihi familiaris, id. ib. 3, 1, 2.— Hence, quaesītus, a, um, P. a., sought out.
   A In a good sense, select, special, extraordinary (mostly post-Aug.): epulae quaesitissumae, Sall. ap. Macr. S. 2, 9, 9 (Sall. H. 2, 23, 4 Dietsch); comp.: leges quaesitiores (opp. simplices), Tac. A. 3, 26: quaesitior adulatio, id. ib. 3, 57.—Sup.: quaesitissimi honores, Tac. A. 2, 53.—
   B In a bad sense (opp. to what is natural), far-fetched, studied, affected, assumed (class.): vitabit etiam quaesita nec ex tempore ficta, sed domo allata, quae plerumque sunt frigida, Cic. Or. 26, 89: ut numerus non quaesitus, sed ipse secutus esse videatur, id. ib. 65, 219: comitas, Tac. A. 6, 50: asperitas, id. ib. 5, 3.—
   C Subst.: quaesītum, i, n.
   1    A question (poet.): accipe quaesiti causam, Ov. M. 4, 793; id. F. 1, 278; Hor. S. 2, 6, 82.—
   2    A question as a rhetorical figure, = πύσμα,> Mart. Cap. 5, § 524.