Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

quondam

/ˈkwɒndəm/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.53 in modern English

Syllables: quon-dam
IPA: /ˈkwɒndəm/

19

Scrabble Score

7

Letters

2

Syllables

7

Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

Former; once; at one time.

Formal

Example Sentences

"This is the quondam King; Let's ſeize vpon him."
"Present him if you please in my name to [John] Henry, [William] Grayson and all our quondam acquaintances and be assured that any civilities he receives from you will be gratefully remembered by me."
"However, with the dainty volume my quondam friend sprang into fame. At the same time he cast off the chrysalis of a commonplace existence."
"For the sleeper on the couch was not Akeley at all, but my quondam guide Noyes."
"A few hundred pages after faintly praising me […] the book’s narrator (a quondam critic with nothing nice to say about Charlie Kaufman) challenges me to a barroom argument about cinema."

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin quondam. Compare whilom.

Origin

Source language: Latin

Word Breakdown

Root: quondam

Usage

Formal

Derived Forms

quondamly quondamship

Synonyms

erstwhile antecedent anterior earlier ex foregone former hitherto old olden past preceding

Questions

How do you pronounce quondam?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈkwɒndəm/.
What does quondam mean?: Former; once; at one time.
Where does quondam come from?: It is traced to Latin.

How to pronounce quondam

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “quondam”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈkwɒndəm/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “quondam”.
Repeat and practice — Say “quondam” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.