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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.—
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).
4. To desire,
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.
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