quidam

English

Etymology

From Latin quīdam.

Noun

quidam (plural quidams)

1. A nobody; a person of no importance. [from 16th c.]
   • 1603, Michel de Montaigne, translated by John Florio, 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!

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ki.dam/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

quidam m (plural quidams)

1. used to designate persons whose name are unknown or not mentioned
2. a person whose identity is not indicated, in a conversation, a writing
3. 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]
• (modern Italianate 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

1. someone, a certain one/thing; something
   • (Can we date this quote?), Seneca, Epistulae ad Luculium, III, 28:

     Quidam vitiis gloriantur.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

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, alternative spellings could be found for the following forms of quī/quis and its compounds: the masculine nominative singular or plural quī (old spelling quei), the genitive singular cuius (old spelling quoius), the dative singular cui (old spelling quoi or quoiei), the dative/ablative plural quīs (old spelling queis).

Adjective

quīdam (feminine quaedam, neuter quoddam); relative/interrogative pronoun (with m optionally → n in compounds) with an indeclinable portion

1. 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)
   • c. 62 BCE, Cicero, chapter 1, in Pro Archia Poeta‎^[1], §2:

     etenim omnes artes, quae ad humanitatem pertinent, habent quoddam commune vinculum et quasi cognatione quadam inter se continentur.

     Indeed all the arts, which pertain to humanity, have some common link and by a certain almost-kindred are held together.

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, alternative spellings could be found for the following forms of quī/quis and its compounds: the masculine nominative singular or plural quī (old spelling quei), the genitive singular cuius (old spelling quoius), the dative singular cui (old spelling quoi or quoiei), the dative/ablative plural quīs (old spelling queis).

See also

Latin correlatives ^(edit)

type	demonstrative			anaphoric	identity	interrogative/ relative	indefinite				negative	other
	proximal	medial	distal				relative	indefinite	free choice	negative polarity
basic	hic	iste, istic	ille, illic	is	ipse, īdem	quis/quī	quisquis, quīcumque	quis, quī, quīdam, aliquis, aliquī, quisque, quispiam	quīvis, quīlibet	quisquam, ūllus, °aliquisquam	nēmō, nihil, nūllus	alter, alius
dual						uter	utercumque	alteruter, uterque	utervīs, uterlibet		neuter
place	hīc	istīc	illīc	ibī̆	ibī̆dem	ubī̆	ubiubi, ubī̆cumque	alicubī, ubīque, uspiam	ubivīs, ubilibet	usquam	nusquam, nēcubi	alibī, aliās
source	hinc	istinc	illinc	inde	indidem	unde	undecumque, undeunde	alicunde, undique	°undelibet		nēcunde	aliunde
destination	hūc, °hōrsum	istūc, °istōrsum	illūc, °illōrsum	eō	eōdem	quō, quōrsum	quōquō, quōcumque	aliquō, quōpiam, °aliquōvorsum	quōvīs, quōlibet	quōquam		aliō, aliōrsum
method, means, path, place	hāc	istāc	illāc	eā	eādem	quā	quāquā, quācumque	aliquā, quāque	quāvīs, quālibet		nēquāquam, haudquāquam	aliā
manner	hōc modō	istō modō	illō modō	ita, sīc, eō modō	item, itidem	ut, quī, quō modō, quōmodo, quemadmodum	utut, utcumque, quōmodocumque	utique, quī, quōdam modō, aliquō modō	quōmodolibet	ūllō modō	nūllō modō	aliter, aliōquī, alterō/aliō modō
time	num, nunc		ōlim	tum, tunc	simul	quandō, ‡cum	cumque, quandōcumque, quandōque	quondam, aliquandō, quandōque	quandōlibet	umquam	numquam	aliās
quantity				tam	†tamen, †tandem	quam	†quamquam	aliquam	quamvīs
size				tantus	tantusdem	quantus	quantuscumque	aliquantus	quantusvīs, quantuslibet
quality				tālis		quālis	quālis, quāliscumque	aliquālis	quālislibet
number				tot	totidem	quot	quotquot, quotcumque	aliquot	quotlibet
order				totus		quotus	quotuscumque		quotuslibet
repetition				totiēns		quotiēns	quotiēnscumque	aliquotiēns	quotiēnslibet
multiplication				totuplex		quotuplex
† Turned conjunction with original meaning somewhat dissimulated ° Rare ‡only used as a conjunction, not as an interrogative

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^[2], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • I have a few words to say on this: mihi quaedam dicenda sunt de hac re