THE FIRST WORD

quondam

PRONUNCIATION:

(KWON-duhm) 

MEANING:

adjective: Former; onetime.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Latin quondam (formerly). Earliest documented use: 1535.

USAGE:

"One of the assumptions Madison and others labored under was that Britain would be too preoccupied with beating Napoleon to pay much attention to its quondam colonies."
Joyce Appleby; The Washington Post; A Stumbling, Fiery End to War of 1812; May 5, 2013.