quondam

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English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin quondam. Compare whilom.

Pronunciation

Adjective

quondam (not comparable)

  1. (formal) Former; once; at one time.
    Synonyms: erstwhile; see also Thesaurus:former
    • c. 1591–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Third Part of Henry the Sixt, ”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, , page 158, column 1:
      This is the quondam King; Let's ſeize vpon him.
    • 1789, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney to James Madison, 28 March, in The Documentary History of the First Federal Elections 1788–1790, vol. 1, ed. Merrill Jensen and Robert A. Becker, University of Wisconsin Press, 1976, page 217:
      Present him if you please in my name to Henry, Grayson and all our quondam acquaintances and be assured that any civilities he receives from you will be gratefully remembered by me.
    • 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter I, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:
      However, with the dainty volume my quondam friend sprang into fame. At the same time he cast off the chrysalis of a commonplace existence.
    • 1931, H. P. Lovecraft, chapter 8, in The Whisperer in Darkness:
      For the sleeper on the couch was not Akeley at all, but my quondam guide Noyes.
    • 2020 September 1, A. O. Scott, “‘I’m Thinking of Ending Things’ Review: Where to Begin?”, in The New York Times‎, →ISSN:
      A few hundred pages after faintly praising me […] the book’s narrator (a quondam critic with nothing nice to say about Charlie Kaufman) challenges me to a barroom argument about cinema.

Derived terms

Translations

Further reading

Latin

Etymology

From cum (“when”) (older quom) + -dam (“demonstrative ending”).

Pronunciation

Adverb

quondam (not comparable)

  1. at a certain time, at one time, once, heretofore, formerly
  2. sometimes

Synonyms

See also

Latin correlatives (edit)
type demonstrative anaphoric identity interrogative/
relative		 indefinite negative other
proximal medial distal relative indefinite universal free choice negative polarity
basic hic iste, istic ille, illic is ipse, īdem quis/quī quisquis, quīcumque quis, quī, quīdam, aliquis, aliquī, quispiam quisque quīvis, quīlibet quisquam, ūllus, °aliquisquam nēmō, nihil, nūllus alius
dual uter utercumque alteruter uterque utervīs, uterlibet neuter alter
place hīc istīc illīc ibī̆ ibī̆dem ubī̆ ubiubi, ubī̆cumque alicubī, uspiam ubīque ubivīs, ubilibet usquam nusquam, nūllibī alibī, aliās
source hinc istinc illinc inde indidem unde undecumque, undeunde alicunde undique °undelibet aliunde
destination hūc, °hōrsum istūc, °istōrsum illūc, °illōrsum eō eōdem quō, quōrsum quōquō, quōcumque aliquō, quōpiam, °aliquōvorsum quōvīs, quōlibet quōquam nusquam, nūllōrsum aliō, aliōrsum
method,
means,
path,
place 		hāc istāc illāc eā eādem quā quāquā, quācumque aliquā quāque quāvīs, quālibet nēquāquam, haudquāquam aliā
manner hōc modō istō modō illō modō ita, sīc,
eō modō		 item, itidem ut, quī, quō modō, quōmodo, quemadmodum utut, utcumque, quōmodocumque quī, quōdam modō, aliquō modō utique quōmodolibet ūllō modō nūllō modō aliter, aliōquī, alterō/aliō modō
time num, nunc ōlim tum, tunc simul quandō, ‡cum cumque, quandōcumque, quandōque quondam, aliquandō quandōque quandōlibet umquam numquam aliās
quantity tam †tamen, †tandem quam †quamquam aliquam quamvīs, quamlibet
size tantus tantusdem quantus quantuscumque aliquantus quantusvīs, quantuslibet
quality tālis quālis quālis, quāliscumque aliquālis quālislibet
number tot totidem quot quotquot, quotcumque aliquot quotlibet
order totus quotus quotuscumque aliquotus quotuslibet
repetition totiēns quotiēns quotiēnscumque aliquotiēns quotiēnslibet
multiplication totuplex quotuplex
† Turned conjunction with original meaning somewhat dissimulated
° Rare
‡only used as a conjunction, not as an interrogative

References

  • “quondam”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • “quondam”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
  • quondam in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
  • quondam in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
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