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

Etymology

From Latin quīdam.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ki.dam/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

quidam m (plural quidams)

1. placeholder for persons whose name are unknown or not mentioned, in a conversation or in writing
   • 2015 January, Virginie Despentes, Vernon Subutex, volume 1, Éditions Grasset, →ISBN:

     Noël regarde autour de lui, cherche les yeux de ses potes, il est hilare. Ils savent que ça ne présage rien de bon pour le quidam.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

2. individual
   • 1857, Gustave Flaubert, Madame Bovary […] ‎^[1], Paris: Michel Lévy Frères; republished as Eleanor Marx, transl., Madame Bovary, 1886:

     Ainsi, vous êtes dans un jardin public, je suppose; un quidam se présente, bien mis, décoré même, et qu'on prendrait pour un diplomate; il vous aborde; vous causez; il s'insinue, vous offre une prise ou vous ramasse votre chapeau.

     Thus, we will suppose you are in a public garden. An individual presents himself, well dressed, even wearing an order, and whom one would take for a diplomatist.

Further reading

• “quidam”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Latin

Etymology

From quis +‎ -dam (indefinite adverbial suffix). Compare quondam (“at one time”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈkʷiː.dãː]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈkʷiː.dam]

Pronoun

quīdam (feminine quaedam, neuter quiddam); indefinite pronoun

1. someone, a certain one/thing; something
   • c. 4 BCE – 65 CE, Seneca the Younger, Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium 3.28.10:

     Quidam vitiis gloriantur.

     Some boast of their faults.

Usage notes

Not to be confused with quidem.

Declension

Indefinite pronoun.

	singular				plural
	masculine	feminine	neuter		masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	quīdam	quaedam	quiddam		quīdam1	quaedam
genitive	cuiusdam2				quōrundam quōrumdam	quārundam quārumdam	quōrundam quōrumdam
dative	cuidam3				quibusdam4
accusative	quendam quemdam	quandam quamdam	quiddam		quōsdam1	quāsdam	quaedam
ablative	quōdam	quādam	quōdam		quibusdam4
vocative	—				—

¹An alternative masculine nominative/accusative plural form quēsdam occurs in Accius.
²The genitive singular was spelled quoiusdam before the Augustan period.
³The dative singular was spelled quoidam before the Augustan period.
⁴The dative/ablative plural has a rare alternative form quīsdam/queisdam.

Determiner

quīdam (feminine quaedam, neuter quoddam); indefinite pronoun

1. a 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)
   • 160 BCE, Publius Terentius Afer, Adelphoe 647:

     Habitant hīc quaedam mulierēs pauperculae.

     Some poor women live here.

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

   • c. 4 BCE – 65 CE, Seneca the Younger, Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium 1.1.1:

     Persuādē tibi hoc sīc esse ut scrībō: quaedam tempora ēripiuntur nōbīs, quaedam subdūcuntur, quaedam effluunt.

     Convince yourself that what I write is true: Certain moments are taken from us, some are stolen, still others vanish away.

Declension

Indefinite pronoun.

	singular				plural
	masculine	feminine	neuter		masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	quīdam	quaedam	quoddam		quīdam1	quaedam
genitive	cuiusdam2				quōrundam quōrumdam	quārundam quārumdam	quōrundam quōrumdam
dative	cuidam3				quibusdam4
accusative	quendam quemdam	quandam quamdam	quoddam		quōsdam1	quāsdam	quaedam
ablative	quōdam	quādam	quōdam		quibusdam4
vocative	—				—

¹An alternative masculine nominative/accusative plural form quēsdam occurs in Accius.
²The genitive singular was spelled quoiusdam before the Augustan period.
³The dative singular was spelled quoidam before the Augustan period.
⁴The dative/ablative plural has a rare alternative form quīsdam/queisdam.

See also

Latin correlatives ^(edit)

type	demonstrative			realis			irrealis		interrogative				indefinite					alternative
	proximal	medial	distal	anaphoric	identity	affirmative	conditional	negative		indefinite	irrelative / emphatic	relative		irrelative	free choice	universal	negative polarity
basic	hic	iste istic	ille illic	is	ipse īdem	quisquidem	sīquis	nēquisquam nēmō̆ nihil nūllus	numquis	ecquis ecquī ecquisnam ecquīnam	quisnam quīnam	quis quī	quisquis quīcumque	quīdam aliquis, quis aliquī, quī quispiam	quīvis quīlibet	quisque	quisquam ūllus	alius
comparative	huiusmodī huiuscemodī	istī̆usmodī	illī̆usmodī	eiusmodī	eiusdemmodī		sīcuiusmodī	nēcuiusquammodī	numcuiusmodī		cuiusnammodī	cuiusmodī	cuiusmodīcumque	alicuiusmodī cuiusdammodī	cuiusvīsmodī	cuiusquemodī	cuiusquammodī	alterī̆usmodī
dual								neuter			uternam	uter	utercumque	alteruter	utervīs uterlibet	uterque		alter
place	hīc	istīc	illīc	ibī̆	ibī̆dem		sīcubī	nusquam nūllibī			ubinam	ubī̆	ubī̆cumque ubiubī̆	alicubī̆ uspiam	ubivīs ubilibet	ubīque	usquam	alibī aliās
source	hinc	ºistim istinc	ºillim illinc	inde	indidem		sīcunde	°nūllunde			undenam	ºcum unde	undecumque undeunde	alicunde	°undelibet	undique	°undiquam	aliunde
destination	hūc hōc °hōrsum	istūc istōc °istōrsum	illūc illōc °illōrsum	eō	eōdem	quōquidem	sīquō	nusquam °nūllōrsum	numquō	ecquō	quōnam	quō quōrsum	quōcumque quōquō °quōrsumcumque	aliquō quōpiam °aliquōvorsum	quōvīs quōlibet	quōque	quōquam	aliō aliōrsum
means, way, path, place	hāc	istāc	illāc	eā	eādem	quāquidem	sīquā	nēquāquam haudquāquam	numquā	ecquā	quānam	quā	quācumque quāquā	aliquā	quāvīs quālibet	quāque	°quāquam ūllā	aliā
distance	hāctenus	°istātenus °istāctenus	°illātenus °illāctenus	eātenus				nūllātenus		°ecquātenus	°quātenusnam	quātenus	°quātenuscumque °quāquātenus	aliquātenus quādantenus	°quātenusvīs °quātenuslibet		ūllātenus	aliātenus
reason	°hācpropter °hōccircā	°istāpropter	°illāpropter	eāpropter eōcircā				°nullāpropter °nullōcircā				cūr quāpropter quōcircā quārē	°quāproptercumque	°quādampropter		°quōquecircā		°aliāpropter
manner	hōc modō	istō modō	illō modō	ita sīc eō modō	item itidem	quidem	sīquī	nihil nihilō neutiquam °neutī̆que nēquīquam nē quidem nūllō modō	numquī	ecquī	utinam	ut prout quī quō modō quōmodo quemadmodum quiter quārē	utcumque utut proutcumque quōmodocumque °quemadmodumcumque	quī quōdam modō aliquō modō	quōmodolibet	utīque	°utiquam °quīquam ūllō modō	aliter aliōquī alterō/aliō modō
time	†num nunc		ōlim	tum tunc	simul	quandō̆quidem	sīquandō̆	numquam	°numquandō̆	ecquandō̆	quandōnam	quandō̆ ‡cum	quandōcumque quandōque cumque °quandōnē °quandōquandō °cumcumque	quondam aliquandō̆	°quandōlibet	quandōque	umquam	aliās
quantity				tam	†tamen †tandem	°quamquidem						quam	quamcumque †quamquam	aliquam	quamvīs quamlibet	quamque
size				tantus	tantusdem							quantus	quantuscumque quantusquantus	aliquantus	quantusvīs quantuslibet	quantusque
quality				tālis						°ecquālis	quālisnam	quālis	quāliscumque quālisquālis	aliquālis	quālislibet	quālisque
number				tot	totidem						°quotnam °quotinam	quot	quotquot quotcumque	aliquot	quotlibet
order/fractional				totus								quotus	°quotuscumque	°aliquotus	°quotuslibet	°quotusque °quotusquisque
repetition				totiēns				nullotiēns				quotiēns	quotiēnscumque	aliquotiēns	quotiēnslibet	quotiēnsque °quotiēnsquisque
multiplication				totuplex								quotuplex
proportion				°totuplus								quotuplus
† Turned conjunction with original meaning somewhat changed ° 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^[3], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • I have a few words to say on this: mihi quaedam dicenda sunt de hac re