quoniam

English

Noun

quoniam (plural quoniams)

1. (slang, obsolete) A kind of drinking-cup.

Ido

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin quoniam.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈku̯oni̯am/, /ˈkvoni̯am/

Conjunction

quoniam

1. (neologism, rare) since, as, seeing that, inasmuch as, considering

   Synonyms: pro ke, ja ke

   *Quoniam el esis nefidela, il abandonis el.

   Since she was unfaithful, he abandoned her.

Usage notes

A more recently coined word, *quoniam has been introduced by some speakers to compliment pro ke. The intended difference is that the former introduces the cause, reason or motive, while the latter reveals it. The other way to express the example above using pro ke would be: Il abandonis el, pro ke el esis nefidela. But, the best way to express the example above is using ja ke: Ja ke el esis nefidela, il abandonis el.

Latin

Etymology

Univerbation of quom +‎ iam.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈkʷo.ni.am/, [ˈkʷɔniä̃ˑ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈkwo.ni.am/, [ˈkwɔːniäm]

Conjunction

quoniam (+ ind)

1. since, forasmuch, inasmuch as, now that
   • 4th century, St Jerome, Vulgate, Tobit 2:18

     Quoniam fīliī sānctōrum sumus et vītam illam expectāmus quam Deus datūrus est hīs quī fidem suam numquam mūtant ab eō.

     For we are the children of saints, and look for that life which God will give to those that never change their faith from him.

Descendants

• → Catalan: quòniam (learned)

Further reading

• “quoniam”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “quoniam”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• quoniam 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)
• quoniam in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.

Middle English

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin quoniam (“since”), probably as an educated respelling/euphemism of Old French conin (“coney, rabbit”). Compare queynte and cunt.

Noun

quoniam

1. The vulva.
   • c. 1380-1400, Geoffrey Chaucer, The Prologe of the Wyves Tale of Bathe, ll. 607–8 (ed. Skeat):

     And trewely, as myne housbondes toldë me,
     I had the bestë quoniam mightë be.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)