Etymograph

English

quid

Quid comes from Latin quid ‘what, something’, from quis ‘who’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kʷís.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kʷís1‘who, what’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kʷis1‘who, what’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEquis2‘who’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEquid2‘what, something’neuter singular of quis
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1886quid2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin quis
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English quid
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1886, Report from the Select Committee of the , Minutes of Evidence: “[…]; but what is the quo for which they…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kʷísWiktionary, Latin quis‘who, what’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kʷisWiktionary, Latin quis‘who, what’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEquisWiktionary, English quid‘who’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEquidWiktionary, English quid‘what, something’neuter singular of quis
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1886quidWiktionary, English quid. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1886, Report from the Select Committee of the , Minutes of Evidence: “[…]; but what is the quo for which they…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *kʷís ‘who, what’

what, when, how, where, why, ut, 5 more

through Latin quid ‘what, something’

quip, 4 more

Another origin of quid

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷet-‘resin, gum’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*kweduz‘resin’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150cwuduas cwidu‘that which is chewed, cud’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500quide
  5. Englishtodayquid

Today it means

noun The inherent nature of something.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “quid”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin quis. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *kʷís / quid

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