Standard Lemma guide

quondam

adj · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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  • /ˈkwɒndəm/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ɒndəm

1

adj

Meaning 1

Former; once; at one time.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: formal, not-comparable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: erstwhile, antecedent, anterior, earlier, ex, foregone, former, hitherto, old, olden, past, preceding, precedent, previous, prior, quondam, sometime, used-to-be, whilom

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin quondam. Compare whilom.

Across languages

Translations

14 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: бивш (bivš) — former
  • Bulgarian: някогашен (njakogašen) — former
  • Catalan: quòndam — former
  • Georgian: ყოფილი (q̇opili) — former
  • German: einstig — former
  • German: ehemalig — former
  • German: früher — former
  • German: einstmalig — former
  • Norwegian Bokmål: forhenværende — former
  • Norwegian Bokmål: tidligere — former
  • Russian: бы́вший (bývšij) — former
  • Spanish: otrora — former
  • Spanish: antaño — former
  • Spanish: antiguo — former