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. used to designate persons whose name are unknown or not mentioned
2. a person whose identity is not indicated, in a conversation, a 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)

3. individual

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.d̪am]

Pronoun

quīdam (feminine quaedam, neuter quiddam); indefinite pronoun

1. someone, a certain one/thing; something
   • 160 BCE, Publius Terentius Afer, Adelphoe 647:

     Habitant hīc quaedam mulierēs pauperculae.

     Some poor women live here.

   • (Can we date this quote?), Seneca, Epistulae ad Luculium, III, 28:

     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.

Adjective

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)
   • c. 62 BCE, Cicero, chapter 1, in Pro Archia Poeta‎, §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			anaphoric	identity	interrogative			indefinite					negative	other
	proximal	medial	distal			indefinite	irrelative / emphatic	relative		indefinite	free choice	universal	negative polarity
basic	hic	iste, istic	ille, illic	is	ipse, īdem	ecquis, ecqui, ecquisnam, ecquinam	quisnam, quinam	quis/quī	quisquis, quīcumque	quis, quī, quīdam, aliquis, aliquī, quispiam	quīvis, quīlibet	quisque	quisquam, ūllus, °aliquisquam	nēmō, nihil, nūllus	alius
dual							uternam	uter	utercumque	alteruter	utervīs, uterlibet	uterque		neuter	alter
place	hīc	istīc	illīc	ibī̆	ibī̆dem		ubinam	ubī̆	ubiubi, ubī̆cumque	alicubī, uspiam	ubivīs, ubilibet	ubīque	usquam	nusquam, nūllibī	alibī, aliās
source	hinc	istinc	illinc	inde	indidem			unde	undecumque, undeunde	alicunde	°undelibet	undique			aliunde
destination	hūc, °hōrsum	istūc, °istōrsum	illūc, °illōrsum	eō	eōdem	ecquo	quonam	quō, quōrsum	quōquō, quōcumque	aliquō, quōpiam, °aliquōvorsum	quōvīs, quōlibet		quōquam	nusquam, nūllōrsum	aliō, aliōrsum
method, means, path, place	hāc	istāc	illāc	eā	eādem	ecqua	quanam	quā	quāquā, quācumque	aliquā	quāvīs, quālibet	quāque	°quāquam	nēquāquam, haudquāquam	aliā
manner	hōc modō	istō modō	illō modō	ita, sīc, eō modō	item, itidem		utinam	ut, quī, quō modō, quōmodo, quemadmodum	utut, utcumque, quōmodocumque	quī, quōdam modō, aliquō modō	quōmodolibet	utīque	utiquam, ūllō modō	neutiquam, nūllō modō	aliter, aliōquī, alterō/aliō modō
time	†num, nunc		ōlim	tum, tunc	simul	ecquando		quandō, ‡cum	cumque, quandōcumque, quandōque	quondam, aliquandō	quandōlibet	quandōque	umquam	numquam	aliās
quantity	†nam			tam	†tamen, †tandem			quam	†quamquam, quamcumque	aliquam	quamvīs, quamlibet	quamque	†quamquam
size				tantus	tantusdem			quantus	quantusquantus quantuscumque	aliquantus	quantusvīs, quantuslibet
size (smallness)				tantulus				quantulus, quantillus	quantuluscumque	aliquantulus	quantuluslibet
quality				tālis		ecqualis	qualisnam	quālis	quālis, quāliscumque	aliquālis	quālislibet	qualisque		nihili
number				tot	totidem		quotnam	quot	quotquot, quotcumque	aliquot	quotlibet
order				totus				quotus	quotuscumque	aliquotus	quotuslibet
repetition				totiēns				quotiēns	quotiēnscumque	aliquotiēns	quotiēnslibet	quotiensque
time (continuous)				tamdiu				quamdiu	quamdiucumque	aliquamdiu		quamque diu
multiplication				totuplex				quotuplex
proportion								quotuplus
† Turned conjunction with original meaning somewhat dissimilated ° 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, London: Macmillan and Co.
  • I have a few words to say on this: mihi quaedam dicenda sunt de hac re