quin

See also: Quin, quin-, and -quin

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kwɪn/, [kʰw̥ɪn]
• Rhymes: -ɪn
• Homophone: Quinn

Etymology 1

Noun

quin (plural quins)

1. (informal) A quintuplet.

Synonyms

• quint

Related terms

• quad

Etymology 2

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

quin (plural quins)

1. A European scallop, Pecten opercularis, used as food.
   • 1973, N. L. Tranter, Population since the industrial revolution, page 104:

     Similarly the stocks of the free-living scallops and quins, which are caught by trawling, are threatened by over-fishing to supply the market for canned or frozen luxury sea-foods.

Catalan

Etymology

Inherited from Old Catalan quin, from Latin quīnam.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencia) [ˈkin]

Adjective

quin (feminine quina, masculine plural quins, feminine plural quines)

1. (interrogative) which, what

   Synonym: (archaic, Balearics, Alghero) qual

2. what a

Related terms

• qui

References

• “quin” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “quin” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kɛ̃/

Interjection

quin

1. (Quebec, colloquial) (surprise, giving someone something) alternative form of tiens

Ido

Pronoun

quin

1. (interrogative) whom (plural) (object)

Usage notes

To ask for a subject, use qui instead.

Latin

Etymology

From instrumental quī + ne.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /kʷiːn/, [kʷiːn]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /kwin/, [kwin]

Adverb

quīn (not comparable)

1. (usually with present indicative) how come not, why don't I/you/he ..., how about? (in questioning suggestions)

   Synonyms: quid est quod nōn, cūr nōn, quārē nōn?

   • c. 190 BCE, Plautus, Curculio 84:

     Quīn tū tacēs!

     Why don't you shut up!

   • 27 BCE – 25 BCE, Titus Livius, Ab Urbe Condita 1.47:

     Quīn accingeris?

     Why not prepare yourself?

   • 27 BCE – 25 BCE, Titus Livius, Ab Urbe Condita 10.17:

     'Quid per agrōs' inquit 'vagāmur vīcātim circumferentēs bellum? Quīn urbēs et moenia adgredimur?...'

     He said, "Why are we roaming through the fields waging war from village to village? Why don't we attack the cities and (their) walls?..."

   1. (in commands with imperative, subjunctive or future) come on, let's, ...then! (adding force)

      Synonyms: age, fac

      • 161 BCE, Publius Terentius Afer, Phormio 881:

        GETA Ego sum missu(s) tē ut requīrerem atque addūcerem. ANTIPHO Em quīn ergō rape mē - quid cessās?

        GETA I've been sent to find and bring you back. ANTIPHO Well, here I am - grab me then! What are you waiting for?

2. (emphatic) Used to corroborate or amplify the previous statement: and even, and in fact
   1. Strengthened by various adverbs:

      quīn etiam ― and moreover

      quīn et ― and furthermore

      quīn potius ― in fact, rather

      quīn contrā ― and even on the contrary

      quīn immō ― not at all, and even

      • c. 37 BCE – 30 BCE, Virgil, Georgics 3.457:

        Quīn etiam īma dolor, bālantum lāpsus ad ossa...

        Even the inner pain, gone to the bones of the bleaters (i.e. the sheep)...

      • c. 69 CE – 122 CE, Suetonius, De Vita Caesarum Divi Augusti 96:

        Quīn et bellōrum omnium ēventūs ante praesēnsit.

        He even predicted the outcomes of all his wars beforehand.

   2. Used to emphasise an objection to the previous statement: why, but ...!
      • c. 190 BCE – 185 BCE, Plautus, Amphitryon 410-411:

        SOSIA Quid, malum, non sum ego servos Amphitruōnis Sōsia? […] MERCVRIVS Quid, domum vostram? SO. Ita enim vērō! MER. Quīn quae dīxistī modo omnia ēmentītu·s: equidem Sōsia Amphitruōnis sum!

        SOSIA What the hell? Am I not Sosia, Amphitryon's slave? […] MERCURY What, your house?! SO. Yes, my house! MER. Why, but everything you've just said you've dreamt up: Amphitryon's Sosia is me!

      • c. 190 BCE – 185 BCE, Plautus, Amphitryon 616-617:

        AMPHITRVO Nimia memorās mīra. Sed vīdistīn uxōrem meam? SOSIA Quīn intrō īre in aedīs numquam licitum est! AM. Quis tē prohibuit?

        AMPHITRYON What a strange story you're telling me! But have you seen my wife? SOSIA But I've been told to never ever enter the house! AM. Who told you not to?

Conjunction

quīn

1. (used with a negative like nēmō or nūllus) who does/can/would not (usually following a nominative)

   Synonym: quī/quae/quod nōn (in the nominative mostly)

   • 80 BCE, Cicero, Pro Roscio Amerino 154:

     Vestrum nēmō est quīn intellegat populum Rōmānum

     There is no one among you who doesn't understand the Roman people

   • 100 BCE – 44 BCE, Julius Caesar, De Bello Civili 2.5:

     Neque erat quisquam omnium quīn in eius diēī cāsū suārum omnium fortūnārum ēventum cōnsistere existimāret.

     Nor was there anyone among them who didn't think that the fate of all their fortunes rested on the outcome of that day.

2. (used with a negative like numquam or nōn) without (something happening), (so) that...not

   Synonym: ut nōn

   • 163 BCE, Publius Terentius Afer, Heauton Timorumenos 68, (complaining at an old man for working too much):

     Numquam tam māne ēgredior, neque tam vesperī domum revortor, quīn tē in fundō cōnspicer fodere aut […]

     I never go out so early, or come home so late, that I don't see you digging or […] on your farm.

   • 100 BCE – 44 BCE, Julius Caesar, De Bello Civili 3.47:

     Neque ūllus flāre ventus poterat quīn aliquā ex parte secundum cursum habērent.

     And no wind could blow that it wasn't favourable to them to some extent.

3. (preceded by nōn, followed by sed quod/quia/ut) not because not...but, not that not...but

   Synonym: (nōn) quod/quia (nōn)...(sed)

   • 106 BCE – 43 BCE, Cicero, Ad Familiares 4.7:

     nōn quīn ab eō ipse dissentiam, sed quod eā tē sapientiā esse iūdicem, ut meum cōnsilium nōn antepōnam tuō

     not because I don't disagree with it, but because I judge you to be of the kind of wisdom where I wouldn't prefer my own opinion to yours

   • c. 125 CE – 180 CE, Apuleius, Florida 16:

     nōn quīn magnitūdō Carthāginis mereātur etiam a philosophō precem prō honōre, sed ut integrum et intemerātum esset vestrum beneficium

     not because the great city of Carthage doesn't deserve that even a philosopher should beg to be given an honor, but so that your generosity remained pure and irreproachable

4. (with negated verbs of stopping, hindering) from doing or happening

   Synonym: quōminus, nē

   • 2nd c. CE, Sextus Pompeius Festus, De Verborum Significatione :

     "Necessārium" ait esse Opillus Aurēlius, in quō nōn sit cessandum, […] aut quod nōn possit prohibēre quīn fīat.

     'The necessary', says Opillus Aurelius, 'is that which doesn't allow for delays, […] or that which one can't prevent from happening.'

   • 405 CE, Jerome, Vulgate Ecclesiastes.2.10:

     Et omnia quae dēsīderāvērunt oculī meī, nōn negāvī eīs; nec prohibuī cor quīn omnī voluptāte fruerētur...

     And anything that my eyes desired, I did not deny to them. Nor did I withhold my heart from enjoying every pleasure...

   • 405 CE, Jerome, Vulgate 2 Samuelis.2.21:

     Nōluit autem Asahel omittere quīn urgueret eum.

     But Asahel did not want to stop pursuing him.

5. (used with negated words of hesitation, doubting, not knowing) that
   • quis ignōrat, quīn ...?

     who's oblivious to the fact that ...?

   • 161 BCE, Publius Terentius Afer, Eunuchus 997:

     Nōn dubium·st quīn mī magnum ex hāc rē sit malum.

     There's no doubt that I'll sorely regret this.

   • 1st c. CE, Curtius Rufus, Historiae Alexandri Magni 4.10.29:

     Nec dubitāvit Dārēus quīn interfecta esset, quia nequīsset contumēliam perpetī, exclāmatque āmēns dolōre: "Quod ego tantum nefās commīsī, Alexander?..."

     And Darius had no doubt that she [his wife] had been killed, because she had been unable to endure great offense, and so he shouted in a frenzy from the pain, "What great crime have I committed, Alexander?!.."

References

• “quīn” on page 1712 of the Oxford Latin Dictionary (2nd ed., 2012)

Further reading

• “quin”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “quin”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• Félix Gaffiot (1934) “quin”, in Dictionnaire illustré latin-français [Illustrated Latin-French Dictionary] (in French), Hachette.
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • to devote every spare moment to...; to work without intermission at a thing: nullum tempus intermittere, quin (also ab opere, or ad opus)
    
  • to be hardly able to restrain one's tears: vix mihi tempero quin lacrimem
    
  • to be hardly able to restrain one's tears: vix me contineo quin lacrimem
    
  • to make all possible haste to..: nullam moram interponere, quin (Phil. 10. 1. 1)
    

Occitan

Etymology

From Old Occitan, from Latin quinam (who, which). Cognate with Catalan quin and with Franco-Provençal quint from a merging of Latin quinam and quantus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kin/

• Audio (Béarn):

  (file)

Adjective

quin m (feminine singular quina, masculine plural quins, feminine plural quinas)

1. (interrogative) which

   Quinas veituras son las teunas ?

   Which cars are yours?

2. (interrogative) what

   Quina ora es ?

   What time is it?

3. (exclamative) what

   Quina catastròfa !

   What a catastrophe!

Synonyms

• qual (for animate objects)
• que (for inanimate objects)

Derived terms

• quinament