quondam

adjective

quon·​dam ˈkwän-dəm 

-ˌdam

: former, sometime

a quondam friend

Did you know?

Looking for an unusual and creative way to say "former"? Quondam (which came to English in the 16th century from Latin quondam, meaning "at one time" or "formerly") certainly fits the bill. Or maybe you'd prefer one of its synonyms: whilom, ci-devant, or preterit. Or you could really go crazy with umquhile, a word that is extremely rare even in its more natural Scots English setting. Quondam itself isn't exactly ubiquitous, but it's used more than any of the other words above. If you're looking for something a bit more pedestrian, you might try yet another synonym: erstwhile. Despite its wonderfully archaic flavor, erstwhile is a highly favored alternative.

Synonyms

• erstwhile
• former
• late
• old
• once
• onetime
• other
• past
• sometime
• whilom

Examples of quondam in a Sentence

a quondam oil baron now living comfortably in retirement

Recent Examples on the Web

By coincidence, the same day that Reichstag burned, Einstein wrote to his quondam mistress, Margarete Lenbach. —Thomas Levenson, The Atlantic, 9 June 2017

Word History

Etymology

Latin, at one time, formerly, from quom, cum when; akin to Latin qui who — more at who

First Known Use

1539, in the meaning defined above

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