rare. [L., f. quī who: cf. QUÆDAM.] Somebody; a certain person.
1579. E. K., Ded. to Spenser’s Sheph. Cal., Post-scr. So many vnworthy Quidams, which catch at the garlond which to you alone is dewe.
1624. Bedell, Lett., xi. 143. Who were these quidams that laid hands on Scory?
a. 1641. Bp. Mountagu, Acts & Mon. (1642), 48. Some Individum vagum, a certaine Quidam in the Clouds.
Hence Quidamity, an allusion to ‘somebody.’
1892. Athenæum, 9 July, 65/1. A retort lay ready to his hand more effective than any indulgence in quidam-ities.
