quelcom

Catalan

FWOTD – 21 January 2013

Etymology

From Old Catalan queacom, queucom, calcom, caucom, from Latin quale-cumque or quiddam-cumque, although Spitzer suggests quale-quomodo. Compare Occitan calacom, quezacom, queacom.

Pronunciation

Pronoun

quelcom

  1. (formal) something
    Synonyms: alguna cosa, res, qualque cosa, (proscribed) algo
    • 1919, Claudi Planas i Font, En Pere i altres contes
      ...tenia quelcom de brutal l'espectacle d'aquell home decrèpit...
      ...there was something brutal about the spectacle of that decrepit man...
  2. (formal, in questions) anything

Usage notes

In informal speech alguna cosa, res or the nonstandard Castilianism algo are more common.

Adverb

quelcom

  1. (literary) a bit, somewhat, rather

Further reading

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