uter

See also: úter

Latin

Etymology 1

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *kʷ-

Proto-Indo-European *kʷos

Proto-Indo-European *-teros

Proto-Indo-European *kʷóteros

Proto-Italic *kʷoteros

Latin uter

Inherited from Proto-Italic *kʷoteros. Cognate with Ancient Greek πότερος (póteros, “which of the two”) and English whether.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈʊ.tɛr]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈuː.ter]

Pronoun

uter (feminine utra, neuter utrum); first/second-declension pronoun (nominative masculine singular in -er, pronominal declension)

1. (interrogative) which, who (of two)?
   • c. 189 BCE, Plautus, Truculentus 1.2.55–56:

     Em istoc pol tu otiosu's,
     cum et illic et hic pervorsus es. Sed utriscum rem esse mavis?

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • 68 BCE – 44 BCE, Cicero, Epistulae ad Atticum 15.20.3.2:

     Pompeium Carteia receptum scribis; iam igitur contra hunc exercitum. Utra ergo castra? Media enim tollit Antonius.

     • 1999 translation by D. R. Shackleton Bailey

       You say that Pompey has been admitted into Carteia. So he’ll presently be bringing an army against Antony. Which camp then? For Antony is putting middle courses out of the question.

2. (relative, in indirect questions) whichever, whoever (of two)
   • c. 180 BCE, Plautus, Casina 2.3.56:

     Iam hic erit: nunc experiemur, nostrum uter sit blandior.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • c. 52 BCE, Julius Caesar, Commentarii de bello Gallico 5.44:

     Sic fortuna in contentione et certamine utrumque versavit, ut alter alteri inimicus auxilio salutique esset, neque diiudicari posset, uter utri virtute anteferendus videretur.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

3. (indefinite) either (of two), one or the other
   • 27 BCE – 25 BCE, Titus Livius, Ab urbe condita 21.18.13:

     Tum Romanus sinu ex toga facto, "hic" inquit, "uobis bellum et pacem portamus; utrum placet sumite." Sub hanc uocem haud minus ferociter, daret utrum uellet, succlamatum est; […]

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Usage notes

Variously construed:

• With a genitival partitive: Quam ob rem uter nostrum tandem, Labiene, popularis est, […] (Cicero, Pro Rabirio perduellonis reo 4.11)
• With partitive ex or (rare) de: Quomodo, oro te, convenit ut et Diogenen mireris et Daedalum? Uter ex his sapiens tibi videtur? (Seneca, Epistulae morales ad Lucilium 90.14)

Number agreement:

• With the verb in the singular: Valerius Horatiusque consules sortiti uter dedicaret [aedem]. (Titus Livius, Ab Urbe Condita 2.27.5)
• In the second person, with the verb in the plural (Plautine): Uter eratis, tun an ille, maior?, "Who of the two was the older one, you or he?" (Plautus, Menaechmi 5.9.60)
• Used in the plural to define two sets composed of more than one entity: […] ; sed, utros eius [Suculi] habueris libros—duo enim sunt corpora—an utrosque, nescio. (Cicero, Epistulae ad Quintum Fratrem 2.11.14)

Declension

First/second-declension adjective (nominative masculine singular in -er, pronominal declension).

	singular				plural
	masculine	feminine	neuter		masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	uter	utra	utrum		utrī	utrae	utra
genitive	utrī̆us				utrōrum	utrārum	utrōrum
dative	utrī				utrīs
accusative	utrum	utram	utrum		utrōs	utrās	utra
ablative	utrō	utrā	utrō		utrīs
vocative	uter	utra	utrum		utrī	utrae	utra

Derived terms

• alteruter
• neuter
• uterque
• utrubi

Related terms

Latin correlatives ^(edit)

type	demonstrative			anaphoric	identity	interrogative or basic relative	indefinite							alternative
	proximal	medial	distal				relative	irrelative	free choice	universal	positive polarity	negative polarity	negative
basic	hic	iste istic	ille illic	is	ᵉipse īdem	quis quī	quīcumque quisquis	quīdam aliquis, quis aliquī, quī nesciō quis	quīvis quīlibet	quisque	quispiam	quisquam hīlum ūllus	nēmō̆ nihil nūllus	alius
ᵇcomparative	huiusmodī ᵉhuiuscemodī	istī̆usmodī ᵉistī̆uscemodī	illī̆usmodī ᵉillī̆uscemodī	eiusmodī	eiusdemmodī	cuiusmodī	cuiusmodīcumque	alicuiusmodī cuiusdammodī	cuiusvīsmodī	cuiusquemodī		cuiusquammodī	°nūllī̆usmodī	alterī̆usmodī alīusmodī
dual						uter	utercumque	alteruter	utervīs uterlibet	uterque			neuter	alter
place	hīc	istīc	illīc	ibī̆	ibī̆dem	ubī̆	ubī̆cumque °ubiubī̆	alicubī̆	ubivīs ubilibet	ubīque	uspiam	usquam °ubīquam	nusquam nūllibī	alibī aliās
source	hinc	istinc °istim	illinc °illim	inde ªim	indidem	unde °cum	undecumque °undeunde	alicunde	°undelibet	undique		°undiquam	°nūllunde	aliunde
destination	hūc hōc °hōrsum	istūc istō, istōc °istōrsum	illūc illō, illōc °illōrsum	eō	eōdem	quō quōrsum	quōcumque quōquō °quōrsumcumque	aliquō °aliquōvorsum	quōvīs quōlibet	quōque	quōpiam uspiam	usquam quōquam ªūllō	nusquam ªnihilō ªnūllō °nūllōrsum	aliō aliōrsum
means, way, path, place	hāc	ªistā istāc	ªillā illāc	eā	eādem	quā quārē	quācumque quāquā	aliquā	quāvīs quālibet	°quāque	°quāpiam	°quāquam ªūllā	nēquāquam ªnūllā ᵉhaudquāquam	aliā
ᵇdistance	hāctenus	°istātenus °istāctenus	°illātenus °illāctenus	eātenus		quātenus	°quātenuscumque °quāquātenus	aliquātenus quādantenus	°quātenusvīs °quātenuslibet			ūllātenus	nūllātenus	aliātenus
ᵇreason	°hācpropter °hōccircā	°istāpropter	°illāpropter	eāpropter proptereā eōcircā idcircō ideō		ᶜcūr quāpropter quōcircā quārē †quia								°aliāpropter
ᵇmanner	hōc modō	istō modō	illō modō	ita ᵉsīc eō modō	item itidem eādem operā eōdem modō	ut prout °quem quō modō quōmodo ᵉquemadmodum	utcumque °utut °proutcumque quōmodocumque °ᵉquemadmodumcumque	quōdam modō aliquō modō	quōmodolibet	utīque quōque modō	quōpiam modō	°utiquam ūllō modō	nihil neutiquam °neutī̆que nūllō modō	aliter alterō/aliō modō
instrument, matter, knowledge						quī ᵉquīn °quīcum	quīcumque	quī °aliquī	°quīlibet	°quīque	°quia	°quīquam	nihilō nēquīquam	aliōquī ᵉaliōquīn
time	†num nunc		ōlim	tum tunc	simul	quandō̆ ‡cum	quandōcumque quandōque cumque °quandōnē °ᵉquandōquandō °cumcumque	quondam aliquandō̆	°quandōlibet	quandōque	†quoniam	umquam	numquam	aliās
quantity				tam	†tamen †tandem	quam	quamcumque †quamquam	aliquam	quamvīs quamlibet	quamque
size				tantus	tantusdem	quantus	quantuscumque quantusquantus	aliquantus	quantusvīs quantuslibet	quantusque
quality				tālis		quālis	quāliscumque quālisquālis	aliquālis	quālislibet	quālisque
number				tot	totidem	quot	quotquot quotcumque	aliquot	quotlibet
order/fractional				totus		quotus	°quotuscumque	°aliquotus	°quotuslibet	°quotusque °quotusquisque
repetition				totiēns		quotiēns	quotiēnscumque	aliquotiēns	quotiēnslibet	quotiēnsque °quotiēnsquisque			°nūllotiēns
† Turned conjunction with original meaning somewhat changed ° Rare ‡ Only used as a conjunction, not as an interrogative. ª Used almost exclusively to form locutions or compounds. ᵇ All locutions ending in modī, modō, propter, circā or tenus can be univerbalized and vice versa, except de, secus and if another suffix, such as -cumque, -que or -libet, follows them, quemadmodum can also come as a locution in "quem ad modum", quārē can even also come separately especially if accompanied by a preposition, such as dē. ᶜ Used purely and simply as an interrogative in direct questions (then irrelative), its relative meaning is somewhat lost, if it ever had one. ᵉemphatic

Etymology 2

For *udris, from Proto-Italic *udri-, from Proto-Indo-European *wed- (“water”). Compare with Ancient Greek ὑδρία (hudría, “water-pot, pitcher”). Related to vitrum.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈʊ.tɛr]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈuː.ter]

Noun

uter m (genitive utris); third declension

1. a vessel made of hide used to store wine or water; a leather bottle, a skin

   Hypernym: vās

   Near-synonyms: ampulla, hirnea

   • 77 CE – 79 CE, Plinius Maior, Naturalis Historia 12.7.15:

     Indi in utribus camelorum aut rhinocerotum id [caryophyllon] mittunt.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • c. 40 BCE, Gaius Sallustius Crispus, Bellum Jugurthinum 91.1:

     Ceterum in itinere cottidie pecus exercitui per centurias, item turmas aequaliter distribuerat et, ex coriis utres uti fierent, curabat; […]

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • c. 37 BCE – 30 BCE, Vergilius, Georgicon 2.384:

     Non aliam ob culpam Baccho caper omnibus aris
     caeditur et veteres ineunt proscaenia ludi,
     praemiaque ingeniis pagos et compita circum
     Thesidae posuere, atque inter pocula laeti
     mollibus in pratis unctos salvere per utres […]

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

2. (especially) a bag made of hide inflated for flotation

   Hypernyms: linter, nāvis

   • c. 48 BCE, Julius Caesar, Commentarii de bello civili 1.48:

     […] hos [pabulatores Caesaris] levis armaturae Lusitani peritique earum regionum cetrati citerioris Hispaniae consectabantur; quibus erat proclive tranare flumen, quod consuetudo eorum omnium est, ut sine utribus ad exercitum non eant.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • 27 BCE – 25 BCE, Titus Livius, Ab urbe condita 21.27:

     Hispani sine ulla mole in utres uestimentis coniectis ipsi caetris superpositis incubantes flumen tranauere.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Declension

• Note: although the nominative and accusative plural was normally the masculine utrēs, the rare alternative neuter plural utria is also attested.

Third-declension noun (i-stem).

	singular	plural
nominative	uter	utrēs utria
genitive	utris	utrium
dative	utrī	utribus
accusative	utrem	utrīs utrēs utria
ablative	utre	utribus
vocative	uter	utrēs

Derived terms

• utriculus

Descendants

• Aromanian: utri
• Catalan: odre
• → French: outre
• Galician: odre
• Italian: otre
• Piedmontese: oiro
• Portuguese: odre
• Sicilian: utri
• Spanish: odre

Etymology 3

Noun

uter m (genitive uterī); second declension

1. alternative form of uterus

   (Can we add an example for this sense?)

Declension

Second-declension noun (nominative singular in -er).

	singular	plural
nominative	uter	uterī
genitive	uterī	uterōrum
dative	uterō	uterīs
accusative	uterum	uterōs
ablative	uterō	uterīs
vocative	uter	uterī

Further reading

• “ŭter¹”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “uter¹”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “ūter²”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “ūter²”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “ŭter³”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “ŭtĕr”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• uter, in ΛΟΓΕΙΟΝ [Logeion] Dictionaries for Ancient Greek and Latin (in English, French, Spanish, German, Dutch and Chinese), University of Chicago, since 2011
• Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894), Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • (ambiguous) to offer a person the alternative of... or..: optionem alicui dare, utrum...an
    
  • (ambiguous) it is a debated point whether... or..: in contentione ponitur, utrum...an
    
• “uter”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper’s Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• Sihler, Andrew L. (1995), New Comparative Grammar of Greek and Latin, Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, →ISBN
• Pokorny, Julius (1959), Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch [Indo-European Etymological Dictionary] (in German), Bern, München: Francke Verlag
• De Vaan, Michiel (2008), “uter”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 646-647

Old High German

Alternative forms

• ūtar, ūtaro, ūtiro

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *eudr, from Proto-Germanic *ūdarą, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ewHdʰr̥-, *h₁ówHdʰr̥, *h₁uHdʰr̥- (“udder”).

Noun

ūter m

1. udder

Descendants

• Middle High German: ūter, iuter m or n
  • Cimbrian: autar n
  • German: Euter n or m
  • Luxembourgish: Auder m

References

• Köbler, Gerhard (2014), “ūtar*”, in Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch‎^[2] (in German), 6th edition

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin uterus, French utérus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈu.ter]

Noun

uter n (plural utere)

1. (anatomy) uterus

Declension

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	uter	uterul	utere	uterele
genitive-dative	uter	uterului	utere	uterelor
vocative	uterule		uterelor