quidam
English
Etymology
From Latin quīdam.
Noun
quidam (plural quidams)
- A nobody; a person of no importance. [from 16th c.]
- 1603, John Florio, translating Michel de Montaigne, Essays, III.12:
- A quidam gallant determined upon a time to surprise both my house and my selfe.
- 1792, Thomas Holcroft, Anna St. Ives, vol. IV, letter 77:
- She singing a miserable ditty, a bead-roll of lamentable rhymes, strung together by this Quidam!—This Henley!
- 1603, John Florio, translating Michel de Montaigne, Essays, III.12:
French
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ki.dam/
Audio (file)
Noun
quidam m (plural quidams)
- Used to designate persons whose name are unknown or not mentioned
- Person whose identity is not indicated, in a conversation, a writing
- individual
Further reading
- “quidam”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Latin
Etymology
From quī + -dam (demonstrative ending).
Pronunciation
- (Classical) IPA(key): /ˈkʷiː.dam/, [ˈkʷiːd̪ä̃ˑ]
- (Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /ˈkwi.dam/, [ˈkwiːd̪äm]
Pronoun
quīdam (feminine quaedam, neuter quiddam); relative/interrogative pronoun (with m optionally → n in compounds) with an indeclinable portion
- someone, a certain one/thing; something
- Quidam vitiis gloriantur.
- Some people boast with their vices. (Seneca, Epistulae ad Luculium, III,28)
Usage notes
Not to be confused with quidem.
Declension
Relative/interrogative pronoun (with m optionally → n in compounds) with an indeclinable portion.
| Number | Singular | Plural | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Case / Gender | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | |
| Nominative | quīdam | quaedam | quiddam | quīdam1 | quaedam | ||
| Genitive | cuiusdam1 | quōrundam quōrumdam | quārundam quārumdam | quōrundam quōrumdam | |||
| Dative | cuidam1 | quibusdam quīsdam1 | |||||
| Accusative | quendam | quandam | quiddam | quōsdam | quāsdam | quaedam | |
| Ablative | quōdam | quādam | quōdam | quibusdam quīsdam1 | |||
1In Republican Latin or earlier, quī was often spelled as quei, cuius as quoius, cui as quoi (or quoiei), and quīs as queis.
Adjective
quīdam (feminine quaedam, neuter quoddam); relative/interrogative pronoun (with m optionally → n in compounds) with an indeclinable portion
- Certain (person or thing), some (person or thing), one [in the sense of "a specific"] (person or thing not previously introduced in the present discourse).
Declension
Relative/interrogative pronoun (with m optionally → n in compounds) with an indeclinable portion.
| Number | Singular | Plural | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Case / Gender | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | |
| Nominative | quīdam | quaedam | quoddam | quīdam1 | quaedam | ||
| Genitive | cuiusdam1 | quōrundam quōrumdam | quārundam quārumdam | quōrundam quōrumdam | |||
| Dative | cuidam1 | quibusdam quīsdam1 | |||||
| Accusative | quendam quemdam | quandam quamdam | quoddam | quōsdam | quāsdam | quaedam | |
| Ablative | quōdam | quādam | quōdam | quibusdam quīsdam1 | |||
1In Republican Latin or earlier, quī was often spelled as quei, cuius as quoius, cui as quoi (or quoiei), and quīs as queis.
See also
Latin correlatives (edit)
| type | interrogative | indefinite | (medial) demonstrative | proximal demonstrative | distal demonstrative | relative | indefinite relative | identity | other |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| basic | quis, quī | quis, quī, quīdam, aliquis, aliquī, quisque, quisquam, aliquisquam, quispiam, ūllus | is, iste, istic | hic | ille, illic | quī | quisquis, quīcumque | ipse, īdem | alter, alius |
| dual | uter | alteruter, uterque | uter | utercumque | |||||
| number | quot | aliquot | tot | quot | quotquot, quotcumque | totidem | |||
| order | quotus | totus | quotus | quotuscumque | |||||
| quantity | quam | aliquam | tam | quam | †quamquam | †tamen, †tandem | |||
| size | quantus | aliquantus | tantus | quantus | quantuscumque | tantusdem | |||
| quality | quālis | aliquālis | tālis | quālis | quālis, quāliscumque | ||||
| manner | ut, quī, quō modō, quōmodo, quemadmodum | utique, quī, quōdam modō, aliquō modō | ita, sic, eō/istō modō | hōc modō | illō modō | ut, quī, quō modō, quōmodo, quemadmodum | utut, utcumque, quōmodocumque | item, itidem | aliter, aliōquī, alterō/aliō modō |
| method, path, place | quā | aliquā, quāque | eā, istāc | hāc | illāc | quā | quāquā, quācumque | eādem | aliā |
| place | ubi | alicubi, ubique, usquam, uspiam | ibi, istic | hīc | illīc | ubi | ubiubi, ubicumque | ibidem | alibī, aliās |
| source | unde | alicunde, undeunde | inde, istinc | hinc | illinc | unde | undecumque | indidem | aliunde |
| destination | quō, quōrsum | aliquō, quōquam, quōpiam, °aliquōvorsum | eō, istūc, °istōrsum | hūc, °hōrsum | illūc, °illōrsum | quō | quōquō, quōcumque | eōdem | aliō, aliorsum |
| time | quandō | quondam, aliquandō, quandōque, umquam | tum, tunc | num, nunc | ōlim | cum, quandō | cumque, quandōcumque, quandōque | simul | aliās |
| exact time | quota hōra | ea/ista hōra | hac hōra | illa hōra | quota hōra | quotacumque hōra | eadem hōra | altera/alia hōra | |
| repetition | quotiēns | aliquotiēns | totiēns | quotiēns | quotiēnscumque | ||||
| multiplication | quotuplex | totuplex | quotuplex | ||||||
| † Turned conjunction with original meaning somewhat dissimulated ° Rare | |||||||||
References
- “quidam”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- “quidam”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
- quidam in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
- quidam in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette
- Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book, London: Macmillan and Co.
- I have a few words to say on this: mihi quaedam dicenda sunt de hac re
- I have a few words to say on this: mihi quaedam dicenda sunt de hac re