quotidian

Etymology

From Anglo-Norman cotidian, cotidien, Middle French cotidian, cotidien, and their source, Latin cottīdiānus, quōtīdiānus (“happening every day”), from adverb cottīdiē, quōtīdiē (“every day, daily”), from an unattested adjective derived from quot (“how many”) + locative form of diēs (“day”).

adj

1. (medicine) Recurring every twenty-four hours or (more generally) daily (of symptoms, etc).
   Quotidian periodicity we find in greater or less degree in nearly all fevers, particularly in fevers associated with suppuration. 1898, Patrick Manson, Tropical Diseases, page 104
   I regret that the effect of these statements is a denial of the observation of initial quotidian paroxysms following artificial inoculation. 1941, American Journal of Tropical Medicine, volume XXI
2. Happening every day; daily.
   I know that the government's daily idea to solve the country's law and order problem is not meant to be taken too seriously, but every now and again I am moved to raise an eyebrow at the quotidian suggestion. 10 July 2000, Marcel Berline, The Guardian
3. Having the characteristics of something which can be seen, experienced, etc, every day or very commonly; commonplace, ordinary, mundane.
   The story or the painting would serve to connect the part with the whole, the event with the myth, the quotidian with the sacred. 1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 102
   Tragedy demanded verse, not the quotidian prose of comedy, and verse usually supplied some form of end rhyme. 2002, Russ McDonald, edited by McEachern, The Cambridge Companion to Shakespearean Tragedy, page 28
   Grids are used for such quotidian items as stationery, business cards, mailing labels, hang tags, instruction manuals, etc. 2010, Steven Heller, Eddie S Glaude, Becoming a Graphic Designer
   They are finding the remains of ovens for smelting copper and preparing food as well as quotidian objects such as mats and storage pots. 2015, Alexander Stille, “The World’s Oldest Papyrus and What It Can Tell Us About the Great Pyramids”, in Smithsonian Magazine, volume October 2015, Smithsonian Institution

noun

1. (medicine, now rare, historical) A fever which recurs every day; quotidian malaria.
   If I could meet that Fancie-monger, I would giue him some good counsel, for he seemes to haue the Quotidian of Loue vpon him. 1623, William Shakespeare, As You Like It
   I myself was, about two years since, strangely cured of a violent quotidian, which all the wonted method of physick had not so much abated, by applying to my wrists a mixture of two handfuls of bay-salt, two handfuls of the freshest English hops, and a quarter of a pound of blue currants […] 1671, Robnert Boyle, Usefulness of Experimental Natural Philosophy, Part II
2. (Anglicanism, historical) A daily allowance formerly paid to certain members of the clergy.
3. (usually with definite article) Commonplace or mundane things regarded as a class.
   More than opposable thumbs and the invention of the flinthead axe, it was our ability to transcend the quotidian by weaving tales of awe and wonder that set us apart from the beasts. 21 September 2005, Lucy Mangan, “Has Lost lost the plot?”, in The Guardian
   She does the same thing as any parent worth their salt, and gets rambunctious youngsters engaged in daily drudgeries by refashioning the quotidian as adventure. 12 December 2018, Charles Bramesco, “A Spoonful of Nostalgia Helps the Calculated Mary Poppins Returns Go Down”, in The A.V. Club, archived from the original on 2019-05-24