quaero — 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,Cic. 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, = pu/sma, Mart. Cap. 5, § 524.