adverb
quondam
quondam (not comparable)
Classical[ˈkʷɔn.dãː]Ecclesiastical[ˈkʷɔn.dam]
№ 542 of the 1,000 commonest wordsMille Verba core vocabulary
Meaning
- not comparableat a certain time, at one time, once, heretofore, formerly
- not comparablesometimes
Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers
ōlim, tempore praeteritōquondam — in IVLIANVS I: Gallia, ch. 1
ōlim, aliquandōquondam — in Metamorphoses I, †
quondam (CONDAM, Inscr. Rein. p. 543), adv. quom = cum, with the demonstr. part. dam.
I. At a certain time, at one time, once, heretofore, formerly:
verum tempestas, memini, quondam fuit, cum, etc., Plaut. Truc. 2, 4, 29: olim, olim isti fuit generi quondam quaestus, Ter. Eun. 2, 2, 15: cujus illa quondam socrus, paulo ante uxor fuisset, Cic. Clu. 66, 188: omnia quae sunt conclusa nunc artibus, dissipata quondam fuerunt, id. de Or 1, 42, 187: populus Romanus, qui quondam in hostes lenissimus existimabatur, hoc tempore, etc., id. Rosc. Am. 53, 154: ut quondam Marsaeus, Hor. S. 1, 2, 55; 2, 5, 21, Curt. 3, 1, 12; 3, 4, 3; Ov. F. 2, 547.— Of those deceased, the late, former, deceased (post-class.): OPTIMAE MEMORIAE VIRO QVOND. FILIO AELII, etc., Inscr. Grut. 389, 8: Valeriani quondam centurionis testamentum, Cod. Just. 6, 21, 3: matris tuae quondam mancipia, id. 7, 33, 8; 8, 57, 2; cf.: Cyro quondam rege, Curt. 10, 1, 23.—II. Transf.
A. At certain times, at times, sometimes:
quid, cum saepe lapidum, sanguinis nonnumquam, terrae interdum, quondam etiam lactis imber effluxit? Cic. Div. 1, 43, 98: stomachum, cujus tu similem quondam habebas, id. Fam. 2, 16, 2: quondam cithara tacentem Suscitat Musam, Hor. C. 2, 10, 18: quondam etiam victis redit in praecordia virtus, Verg. A. 2, 367; Ov. M. 9, 170; Lucr. 6, 109: senatus quondam legatos decreverit, Suet. Caes. 24; id. Dom. 7.— B. Of the future, one day, some day, ever (poet.), Hor. S. 2, 2, 82:
nec Romula quondam Ullo se tantum tellus jactabit alumno, Verg. A. 6, 877: haec tibi vir quondam, nunc frater, mittit, Tib. 3, 1, 23.Charlton Lewis's shorter dictionary for students: the same scholarship in plain, modern definitions.
quondam adv.
quom+(demonstr. ending) -dam, at some time, at one time, once, heretofore, formerly, on a time : Olim isti fuit generi quondam quaestus, T.: decrevit quondam senatus: omnia quae sunt conclusa nunc artibus, dissipata quondam fuerunt: ut quondam Marsaeus, H.: At quondam, dum, etc., O.: celebri quondam urbe et copiosā: vestros quondam nautas duxit, once yours : Cyro quondam rege, late , Cu.— At certain times, at times, sometimes, once in a while : cum saepe lapidum, terrae interdum, quondam etiam lactis imber defluxit: quondam citharā tacentem Suscitat Musam, H.: Quondam etiam victis redit in praecordia virtus, V.—Of the future, one day, some day : Hic tamen ad melius poterit transcurrere quondam, H.
Origins
From cum (“when”) (older quom) + -dam (“demonstrative ending”).
In English words that came into English from quondam
- quondamquondam