[i] quīn and quōminus: similarities and differences
Firstly, briefly review the use of quīn with verbs of hindering and preventing:
Nōn recūsat ¦ quīn iūdicēs (Cicero)
- He does not object ¦ to your judging.
Prōrsus nihil abest ¦ quīn sim miserrimus (Cicero)
- Absolutely nothing prevents me ¦ from being utterly wretched.
Tenērī nōn potuī ¦ quīn tibi apertius illud īdem … dēclārārem.
- I could not restrain myself ¦ from expressing that very thing to you more openly ...
[ii] Quōminus functions in a similar way to quīn with verbs that express ‘hindering’ or ‘preventing’ except that – with quōminus – the verb in the main clause can be positive or negative.
Compare the uses of [A] quīn and [B] quōminus:
[A] quīn is used only with negative verbs in the main clause:
Negative: Nōn tē dēterreō quīn hoc faciās.
- I do not prevent you from doing this.
Negative: Mē homō nēmō dēterrēbit, quīn ea sit in hīs aedibus (Plautus)
- No man will prevent me from having her in this house.
[B] Quōminus can be used with either negative or positive verbs in the main clause.
Negative: Nōn tē dēterreō quōminus hoc faciās.
- I do not prevent you from doing this.
However, when the verb in the main clause is positive, only quōminus can be used.
Positive: Mē dēterruit quōminus Romam abīrem.
- He prevented me from departing to Rome.
[iii] The literal translation of quōminus is “by which the less” i.e. the action in the main clause prevents / does not prevent the action in the quōminus clause from being ‘less’ done.
Mē impedīvit quōminus in urbem inīrem.
[Very literally: He prevented me ¦ by which I would enter the city ‘less’.]
- He prevented me ¦ from entering the city.
Impedīvit eam pater ¦ quōminus puerum vīseret.
[Very literally: The father prevented her ¦ by which she would see the boy ‘less’.]
- The father prevented her ¦ from seeing the boy.
Note in the next example that who is (not) being prevented may not be specifically stated in the main clause but can be deduced from the verb in the quōminus clause.
Nihil impedit ¦ quōminus id facere possīmus (Cicero)
[Very literally: Nothing prevents ¦ by which we could do this ‘less’.]
- Nothing prevents us ¦ from being able to do that.
[iv] A wide range of verbs and expressions are used in this construction:
dēterreō, -ēre, -ui, deterritus [2]: deter; discourage
impediō, -īre, -īvī, impeditus [4]: hinder
prohibeō, -ēre, -uī, prohibitus [2]: forbid; prohibit; prevent
recūsō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus [1]: refuse; object
Tempestās imperātōrem dēterruit ¦ quōminus Graeciam nāvigāret.
- The bad weather discouraged the commander ¦ from sailing to Greece.
Nec aetās impedit ¦ quōminus agrī colendī studia teneāmus (Cato)
- Nor does age prevent ¦ us from retaining an interest in tilling the soil.
Quōminus ad ultimam senectūtem perveniant, ¦ nōn prohibentur (Celsus)
- They are not prevented ¦ from reaching the last stage of old age.
Omnia ... cōnfessus est neque recūsāvit ¦ quōminus lēgis poenam subīret (Nepos)
- He … confessed everything and he did not refuse ¦ to submit to the punishment of the law.
[v] Further examples; quōminus may appear in texts as two separate words:
[1] Primary tense sequence
Itaque interclūdor dolōre, quō minus ad tē plūra scrībam (Cicero)
- Therefore, I am prevented by grief from writing more to you.
Tē iūstā causā impedīrī, quō minus ad nōs veniās, videō (Cicero)
- I see that you are prevented by a good reason from coming to us.
Nōn impedit, quō minus adsim (Cicero)
- He does not prevent me from being present.
Neque tē dēterreō, quō minus id disputēs (Cicero)
- Nor am I stopping you from arguing that.
Nōn dēterret sapientem mors quō minus in omne tempus reī pūblicae suisque cōnsulat (Cicero)
- Death does not deter the wise man from looking after the interests of the state and his family for all time.
[2] Secondary / historic tense sequence:
Tē impedīret, quō minus mēcum essēs (Cicero)
- It would prevent you from being with me.
Dēterrēre eum voluit ... quōminus medicāmentum biberet (Rufus)
- He wanted to dissuade him from drinking the medicine.
Impedīre coepērunt quōminus sē in castra reciperent (Bellum Africum)
- They began to prevent them from entering the camp.
Q. Cicerōnī obsistī nōn potuit, quō minus Thyamim vidēret (Cicero)
- Q. Cicero could not be stopped from seeing the (river) Thyamis.
Itaque dēterritus nōn est quōminus … reliqua pars exercitūs opus faceret (Bellum Alexandrinum)
- And so he was not deterred from the rest of the army carrying out the work…
