# Is Quantum a word in latin? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 31, 2006, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-quantum-a-word-in-latin/358872 "2006-05-31T14:17:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2006, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-quantum-a-word-in-latin/358872/1 "2006-05-31T14:17:38Z")
I saw a what looked like a latin quote with the word quantum in, and just wondered what it meant in english (if it was latin). The phrase is “Quantum In Me Fuit” - what does it mean? ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2006, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-quantum-a-word-in-latin/358872/2 "2006-05-31T14:19:43Z")
Uhm… yes it is but I can only translate it to Spanish… Apparently my brain shortcircuits while trying to do triple-language jumps, sorry. What I get when I try two consecutive translations is just way too Babelfishie. C’mon, guys, I know there’s people here who’ve studied Classics. ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2006, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-quantum-a-word-in-latin/358872/3 "2006-05-31T14:26:54Z")
> [@Revenant Threshold](#): > > I saw a what looked like a latin quote with the word quantum in, and just wondered what it meant in english (if it was latin). The phrase is “Quantum In Me Fuit” - what does it mean? According to the etymology of the english word ‘quantum’ in Merriam-Webster online, it is the neuter form of ‘quantus’, which means “how much?” ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2006, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-quantum-a-word-in-latin/358872/4 "2006-05-31T14:38:41Z")
> [@Revenant Threshold](#): > > I saw a what looked like a latin quote with the word quantum in, and just wondered what it meant in english (if it was latin). The phrase is “Quantum In Me Fuit” - what does it mean? Quantum is the masculine accusative (direct object) form and the neuter nominative (subject) and accusative form of _quantus_, meaning “how great” as both a relative and interrogative adjective. _Quantum in me fuit_ is a Latin epitaph, literally meaning “How great it was in me!” with the connotative meaning “I have done my best” (attributed to the departed as an epitaph by the mourners ). ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2006, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-quantum-a-word-in-latin/358872/5 "2006-05-31T15:33:42Z")
I once looked this up because some yahoo was making fun of people saying “quantum leap” since “we all know” that a quantum is a very tiny thing. The sources I found at the time implied that it meant “an (unspecified) amount”. E.g., “I think I’ll head down to the market and get a quantum of olive oil.” ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2006, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-quantum-a-word-in-latin/358872/6 "2006-05-31T17:52:20Z")
From a linguistic standpoint that’s correct, **ftg**. But the use of “quantum” in advanced physics, which is the sense in which the idiom borrows the word, a single quantum is the smallest possible amount of, say, a certain type of energy. For instance, one quantum of light is a photon – you cannot have a half-photon, or even 98% of a photon – it cannot exist in a smaller way than a single quantum. Ergo, the phrase “quantum leap” is inane because it’s used to describe huge shifts in perception, technological, advance, or intuition, and it actually means the smallest possible change that could ever have occured. –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2006, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-quantum-a-word-in-latin/358872/7 "2006-05-31T18:02:01Z")
> [@Cliffy](#): > > But the use of “quantum” in advanced physics, which is the sense in which the idiom borrows the word, a single quantum is the smallest possible amount of, say, a certain type of energy. For instance, one quantum of light is a photon – you cannot have a half-photon, or even 98% of a photon – it cannot exist in a smaller way than a single quantum. > > Ergo, the phrase “quantum leap” is inane because it’s used to describe huge shifts in perception, technological, advance, or intuition, and it actually means the smallest possible change that could ever have occured. I would say that it’s valid in terms of ‘a surprising, unprecedented change’ by analogy with quantum shell energy shifts… when an electron absorbs a new quantum photon, it leaps up to a new electron shell, without even travelling through the space in between, because there’s no way of measuring the transition between quantum levels. Thus, I think it’s an appropriate term to describe impressive and sudden shifts in technology, perception, and intuition. The term ‘huge’ is inappropriate, I think… are shifts in perception or intuition really very well described in terms of size anyway?? The fact that the quantum scale is submicroscopic doesn’t keep it from being a good metaphor I think. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2006, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-quantum-a-word-in-latin/358872/8 "2006-05-31T18:57:14Z")
> [@Cliffy](#): > > From a linguistic standpoint that’s correct, **ftg**. But the use of “quantum” in advanced physics, which is the sense in which the idiom borrows the word, a single quantum is the smallest possible amount of, say, a certain type of energy. For instance, one quantum of light is a photon – you cannot have a half-photon, or even 98% of a photon – it cannot exist in a smaller way than a single quantum. > > Ergo, the phrase “quantum leap” is inane because it’s used to describe huge shifts in perception, technological, advance, or intuition, and it actually means the smallest possible change that could ever have occured. > > –Cliffy I don’t think so. I take it to mean a discontinuous jump. IOW, some technological advances are just part of the continuum of improvements that happen all the time, but others are a jump to a “new state”, so to speak. ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2006, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-quantum-a-word-in-latin/358872/9 "2006-05-31T19:06:15Z")
> [@John Mace](#): > > I don’t think so. I take it to mean a discontinuous jump. IOW, some technological advances are just part of the continuum of improvements that happen all the time, but others are a jump to a “new state”, so to speak. Yeah, that’s how I see it. Instead of the usual gradual, incremental increase in performance, it seems as though a few levels have been “skipped” to get to a suprisingly higher performance. Thanks for the answers, everyone. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2006, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-quantum-a-word-in-latin/358872/10 "2006-05-31T21:55:35Z")
**Cliffy** : the dictionary I checked gives the Physics meaning as definition number 3. If there are 2 other definitions ahead of it, I hardly think it is fair to complain about the other uses! Words have multiple uses. Get used to it. (And I think 2000+ years is plenty long enough.) ---
**Author:** ![A.R-W](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/90ced4/32.png) [@A.R-W](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A.R-W)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2016, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-quantum-a-word-in-latin/358872/11 "2016-05-29T08:02:01Z")
Quantum in me fuit - I did the best I could. :dubious: Source: ‘Hot Money’, a novel by Dick Francis ---
**Author:** ![Foggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foggy/32/1082_2.png) [@Foggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Foggy)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2016, 9:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-quantum-a-word-in-latin/358872/12 "2016-05-29T09:28:06Z")
here’s a quantum leap, this thread is 10 years old. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2016, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-quantum-a-word-in-latin/358872/13 "2016-05-29T10:41:30Z")
Wow, what a shock to see a post by **Polycarp**! ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2016, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-quantum-a-word-in-latin/358872/14 "2016-05-29T10:59:49Z")
> [@Foggy](#): > > here’s a quantum leap, this thread is 10 years old. Oh, boy! ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2016, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-quantum-a-word-in-latin/358872/15 "2016-05-29T12:03:22Z")
> [@Foggy](#): > > here’s a quantum leap, this thread is 10 years old. This works on the other level as well, since the “space” between the last old post and the first new one couldn’t be any smaller. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2016, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-quantum-a-word-in-latin/358872/16 "2016-05-29T17:17:54Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Uhm… yes it is but I can only translate it to Spanish… Apparently my brain shortcircuits while trying to do triple-language jumps, sorry. What I get when I try two consecutive translations is just _way too Babelfishie_… Ital added 😃 Brilliant. Although I’d spell it as “something smells Babelfishy” in a comment on a suspicious translation. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d26b3c/32.png) [@Johnny\_Angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Angel)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2016, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-quantum-a-word-in-latin/358872/17 "2016-05-30T17:22:49Z")
When I saw the quote, I was unfamiliar with its use. I read it as a boast. Quantum in mē fuit! But I disagree that quantum is masculine being used in the accusative. The way the phrase is used, the entire clause is itself an object of some unstated verb.