quondam

Forms

quondam (not comparable)^[1] Inscriptions spell it condam.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from ⟨quom⟩, the older form of cum (“when”), and the demonstrative ending -dam of quīdam.^[2][3][1] Köbler compares the particle Proto-Indo-European *de-.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Plautus,^[4] who has vērum tempestās, meminī, quondam fuit, cum …, “but there was a time once, I remember, when …”.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Quondam is “once, formerly”, as opposed to now, and almost as an adjective “former, that once was”.^[2][3][1] In poetry it looks forward, “one day, in time to come” (Virgil: no Roman soil will ever boast so much of any child quondam).^[2] In similes it is “at times, on occasion” (Lucretius: carbasus ut quondam … dat crepitum, “as an awning sometimes cracks”).^[2][1]

Church Latin glosses it “once, formerly, at a certain time”.^[5] In Medieval Latin quondam or condam is used as an indeclinable adjective, “the late, deceased”.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus: tempestās … quondam fuit.^[3][4]
• 96–55 BC – Lucretius: carbasus ut quondam.^[2][4]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of the future.^[2][4]
• Middle Ages – Used as an adjective, “the late”.^[6]

Meanings

Adverb

1. Once, formerly, at one time.^[2][3][1][5]
2. One day, in time to come.^[2]
3. At times, sometimes.^[2][1]

Adjective

1. (Medieval Latin, indeclinable) The late, deceased.^[6]

Related words

• cum
• quīdam
• ōlim

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
6. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill