pronounindefinite pronoun
quīdam1
quīdam (feminine quaedam, neuter quiddam)
Classical[ˈkʷiː.dãː]Ecclesiastical[ˈkʷiː.dam]
№ 126 of the 1,000 commonest wordsMille Verba core vocabulary
Meaning
- indefinitepronounsomeone, a certain one/thing; something
Quidam vitiis gloriantur.
Some boast of their faults.c. 65 CE, Seneca Minor, Epistulae morales ad Lucilium 3.28.10
In the readers how our graded readers gloss it
a certain
some (things)
quaedam — in Seneca, ch. XXII
Declension
| form | masculine | feminine | neuter |
|---|---|---|---|
| nominative | quīdam | quaedam | quiddam |
| genitive | cuiusdam | cuiusdam | cuiusdam |
| dative | cuidam | cuidam | cuidam |
| accusative | quendam quemdam | quandam quamdam | quiddam |
| ablative | quōdam | quādam | quōdam |
| form | masculine | feminine | neuter |
|---|---|---|---|
| nominative | quīdam | quaedam | quaedam |
| genitive | quōrundam quōrumdam | quārundam quārumdam | quōrundam quōrumdam |
| dative | quibusdam | quibusdam | quibusdam |
| accusative | quōsdam | quāsdam | quaedam |
| ablative | quibusdam | quibusdam | quibusdam |
Phrases from Meissner's Latin Phrase-Book
- Cicero loco quodam haec dicit
- Cicero says this somewhere.
- ratione; animi quodam iudicio
- on principle.
- mihi quaedam dicenda sunt de hac re
- I have a few words to say on this.
- divino quodam spiritu inflatus or tactus
- inspired.
- ventum popularem quendam (in aliqua re) quaerere
- to strive to gain popular favour by certain means.
- comprehensam quandam animo speciem (alicuius rei) habere
- to have formed an ideal notion of a thing.
- singularem quandam perfectionis imaginem animo concipere
- to conceive an ideal.
- divino quodam instinctu concitari, ferri (Div. 1. 31. 66)
- to feel inspired.
quīdam, quaedam, quoddam, and
I. subst. quiddam, pron. indef., a certain, a certain one, somebody, something (v. aliquis init.):
quidam ex advocatis, Cic. Clu. 63, 177: quidam de collegis nostris, id. Fam. 11, 21, 5: quaedam certa vox, id. de Or. 3, 12, 44: inopem quendam describere, id. Att. 7, 16: quodam tempore, a certain (indefinite) time, once upon a time, once, id. Fin. 5, 2, 4. — In plur., some: excesserunt urbe quidam, alii mortem sibi consciverunt, Liv. 45, 10: quaedam quaestiones, Cic. Top. 21, 79.—Also with gen.: quidam bonorum caesi, Tac. A. 1, 49: quibusdam Andriorum persuasit, etc., Liv. 31, 45, 7.— Often with an adj. to soften the assertion: timiditate quādam ingenuā, Cic. de Or. 2, 3, 10: qui virtutem duram et quasi ferream quandam esse volunt, id. Lael. 13, 48.—Subst.: quiddam, something; with gen.: quiddam mali, Cic. Leg. 3, 10, 23. — Without gen.: quiddam divinum, something divine, Cic. Ac. 1, 9, 33.— Plur.: quaedam, si credis consultis, mancipat usus, Hor. Ep. 2, 2, 159.Charlton Lewis's shorter dictionary for students: the same scholarship in plain, modern definitions.
quīdam quaedam, quoddam, and (as subst.) quiddam, pron. indef.
—Sing., a certain, a certain one, somebody, one, something : quidam ex advocatis: quaedam certa vox: unius cuiusdam operis (homo), some single craft: Accurrit quidam, notus mi nomine tantum, H.: quodam tempore, once upon a time. —As subst n.: quiddam divinum, a something: quiddam mali, somewhat: Quaedam, si credis consultis, mancipat usus, some things, H. — Plur, some, certain, certain ones: excesserunt urbe quidam, alii, etc., L.: quaedam quaestiones: quibusdam Andriorum persuasit, etc., L.—With a subst. or adj.
, to give vagueness or moderation to an assertion, a certain, a kind of, as one might say: dicendi singularis quaedam facultas: te natura excelsum, quendam et altum genuit: timiditate ingenuā quādam: quasi quaedam Socratica medicina.
Origins
From quis + -dam (indefinite adverbial suffix). Compare quondam (“at one time”).
In English words that came into English from quīdam
- quidamquīdam