Friday, February 28, 2014

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.

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