Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Quondam
Quon′dam
(kwŏn′dăm)
, Adj.
[L., formerly.]
Having been formerly; former; sometime.
“This is the quondam king.” Shak.
Quon′dam
,Noun.
A person dismissed or ejected from a position.
[R.]
“Make them quondams; . . . cast them out of their office.” Latimer.
Webster 1828 Edition
Quondam
QUON'DAM
, used adjectively. [L.] Having been formerly; former; as a quondam king or friend.Definition 2024
quondam
quondam
English
Adjective
quondam (not comparable)
- Former; once; at one time.
- 16th c., William Shakespeare, Henry VI, Part 3, act III, scene I.
- This is the quondam king.
- 1898, Winston Churchill, chapter 1, in The Celebrity:
- However, with the dainty volume my quondam friend sprang into fame. At the same time he cast off the chrysalis of a commonplace existence.
- 16th c., William Shakespeare, Henry VI, Part 3, act III, scene I.
Translations
Synonyms
- erstwhile
- See also Wikisaurus:former
Latin
Etymology
From Latin cum (“when”) (older quom) + -dam (demonstrative ending).
Adverb
quondam (not comparable)
- at a certain time, at one time, once, heretofore, formerly
- sometimes
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, 1883–1887)
- Félix Gaffiot (1934), “quondam”, in Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Paris: Hachette.