quondam
/ˈkwɒndəm/
"quondam" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“quondam” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 7
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Former; once; at one time.
Corpus desk
Index EN-quondam · quondam · English
quondam · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 7 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "Q" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | quondam |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈkwɒndəm/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “quondam” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
quondam is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anadjective, transcribed /ˈkwɒndəm/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Former; once; at one time.".
quondam doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Latin quondam. Compare whilom. The correct English form is quondam, spelled Q-U-O-N-D-A-M.
Definition
- 1Former; once; at one time.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how quondam appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
This is the quondam King; Let's ſeize vpon him.
Present him if you please in my name to [John] Henry, [William] Grayson and all our quondam acquaintances and be assured that any civilities he receives from you will be gratefully remembered by me.
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin quondam. Compare whilom.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 3, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
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Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.