Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. That once was; former: "the quondam drunkard, now perfectly sober” ( Bret Harte).
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Having been formerly; former: as, one's quondam friend; a quondam schoolmaster.
- n. A person formerly in an office; a person ejected from an office or a position.
Wiktionary
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. Having been formerly; former; sometime.
- n. rare A person dismissed or ejected from a position.
WordNet 3.0
- adj. belonging to some prior time
Etymologies
- Latin quondam (Wiktionary)
- Latin, from quom, when; see kwo- in Indo-European roots. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Akiva replied by making himself known as his quondam servant and rejected son-in-law.”
Hebraic Literature; Translations from the Talmud, Midrashim and Kabbala
“Q quailing culprit quaint peculiarities qualifying service quavering voice queer tolerance quenchless despair querulous disposition [querulous = habitually complaining] questionable data questioning gaze quibbling speech quick sensibility quiescent melancholy quiet cynicism quivering excitement quixotic impulse quizzical expression quondam foe [quondam = former]”
“Dan recalled his quondam chief's occasional flings at Allen, whom the senator from Fraser had regarded as a spoiled and erratic but innocuous trifler.”
“This creature called her quondam lover, "Lennie" -- even as she herself had done, -- and she, the proud, vain woman of society and fashion shuddered at the idea that there should be even this similarity between herself and the "thing" called Violet Vere.”
“And finally, Mr Norton terms his quondam counsel and referee –”
“Yes, Lord Geoffrey," for so the steward always called the quondam reefer, "you does handle him more like a quick-working boat, than any on us; and so I'll take an hopportunity of just overhauling our old lieutenant's young 'uns, and of seeing what sort of craft he has set afloat for the next generation.”
“Ungrateful Lady Mary Wortley Montagu called her quondam lover,”
“Had I known you as the Wife of any but the 'quondam' Greek Professor, I should very likely have sent it to you: since it was meant for those who might wish for some insight into a Play {109} which I must think they can scarcely have been tempted into before by any previous Translation.”
“A second illustration: -- Did Curio, the 'quondam' patriot, reformer, and semi-revolutionist, abjure his opinion, and yell the foremost in the hunt of persecution against his old friends and fellow-philosophists, with a cold clear predetermination, formed at one moment, of making”
“Havana is a city of youth, somehow living in a microcosm of a quondam culture, prevented from evolving.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘quondam’.
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Words
phantasmagoria, eviscerate, avast, simulacrum, varicose, oblique, gestalt, ersatz, vernal, vivace, stellate, synecdoche and 321 more...
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phrontistery - q
from phrontistery.info
quoz, quotuple, quotum, quotition, quotiety, quotidian, quotha, quotennial, quotatious, quorate, quondam, quomodocunquize and 227 more...
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briwref's list
defalcation, macerate, beldam, nescience, ochlocracy, bibelot, estivate, spatulated, introversive, mastoidal, belletristic, objurgation and 108 more...
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Logolepsy
"Luciferous Logolepsy is a collection of over 9,000 obscure English words. Though the definition of an 'English' word might seem to be straightforward, it is not. There exist so many adopted, deriv...
Anschauung, Areopagus, Argus, Briarean, Dei gratia, Dei judicium, Deo volente, Duecento, Foehn, Geflugelte Worte, Gegenschein, Hakenkreuz and 9230 more...
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Words that describe themselves.
polysyllabic, sesquipedalian, common, supercilious, brief, english, erudite, abstraction, awkward, desuete, esoteric, recherché and 16 more...
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Originventory
Beformitables; previousness, past-referents, and origins.
erstwhile, formication, quondam, atavistic, umquhile, yestreen, hesternal, hesternopothia, pridian, ere, retrophilia, ante mortem and 72 more...
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Recently Loved Words
Valentine's Day is coming up, so here's a list of words that have been "loved" here on Wordnik (our favorite site with a heart as part of its logo).
howl, lichenous, uncomplicated, siliceous, clatter, hubris, dervish, articulated, acerbic, Recently Loved Words, mellifluous, anomaly and 45 more...
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Formerly
Being a list of words with definitions containing the word "formerly."
formerly, armorer, link, plummet, brank, pall-mall, florin, quondam, erstwhile, imponderable, recant, ether and 32 more...
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Extrude
tchotchke, lugubrious, inspissated, fissiparous, vituperation, quondam, absolutisation, artisanal, funicular, sacerdotal, abstruse, circumspect and 38 more...
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♥
ambrosia, inamorata, gossamer, lily-white, hummingbird, roucoulement, poppy, daisy, calypso, lunula, lamb, dove and 1526 more...
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Favorite Words
pablum, maundy, histrionic, adamant, ascribe, verbiage, insouciant, erudite, gregarious, superfluous, banal, obdurate and 280 more...
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All The Words
I enjoy collecting words, for I have no fear of them ever running out.
anacoluthon, defenestration, hypnopomp, hypnagogue, idioglossia, panopticon, tatterdemalion, abalone, caltrop, miasma, paroxysm, smalt and 475 more...
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Vega's Logophile Dictionary
Words I've heard/read in use, words being learnt, words that I want to eventually use in everyday language, words that are high-brow and elitist and scholarly and obscure, words that display the wo...
parsimonious, torpor, recalcitrant, plebeian, vitriol, gumption, augur, aestival, celerity, diaphanous, farrago, nonpareil and 287 more...
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generationnext's Words
petulant, vehement, pensive, lascivious, vacillate, histrionic, satiated, svelte, lithe, zeitgeist, viscous, sommelier and 526 more...
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Latinate
lorem ipsum, citius, altius, fortius, curriculum vitae, bona fide, terra nullius, habeas corpus, quidnunc, voir dire, emeritus, quincunx and 99 more...
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To Learn
enervate, redolent, distaff, approbation, arrogate, bonhomie, palliate, calumny, panoply, contumacious, edify, dyspeptic and 188 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for quondam.

sionnach Does this have something to do with whilom? Nov 20, 2007
seanahan Now that's some WeirdNet action. Nov 20, 2007