Borrowed fromFrenchci-devant.

ci-devant (notcomparable)

1. Former,late.
   • 1831,L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XIV, inRomance and Reality. […], volume III, London:Henry Colburn andRichard Bentley, […],→OCLC,page262:

     Hastily Beatrice performed both her own and Emily's toilette; for what with fatigue and terror, her companion was almost powerless: still their celerity excited the praise of theci-devant professor of the fine arts.

   • 1846, [Edward Bulwer-Lytton],Lucretia: Or The Children of Night. […], volume I, London: Saunders and Otley, […],→OCLC:

     Theci-devant marquis was caught disguised in her apartment. She betrayed for him a good, easy friend of the people who had long loved her, and revenge is sweet.

   • 1847 November 1,Henry Wadsworth Longfellow,Evangeline, a Tale of Acadie, Boston, Mass.:William D. Ticknor & Company,→OCLC,(please specify either |part=I or II):

     Much they marvelled to see the wealth of theci-devant blacksmith

   • 1952,Isaac Asimov,Foundation and Empire (1974Panther Books Ltd publication), part I: “The General”, chapter 1: ‘Search for Magicians’, page 10, ¶ 4

     The old patrician retreated noiselessly with a slow bow that was part of the ceremonious legacy left by aci-devant aristocracy of the last century’s better days.

   • 2006, Marsha Keith Schuchard,Why Mrs Blake Cried, Pimlico, published2007, page157:

     During art collecting tours in Italy, Townley worked with the eccentric scholar Baron d'Hancarville (ci-devant Pierre Françoise Hughes), a specialist in pornographic art[…]

• Vedantic

• IPA^(key):/si.d(ə).vɑ̃/

• Audio:

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ci-devant

1. (archaic)former,one-time

• → English:ci-devant

ci-devant m orfby sense (pluralci-devant)

1. (historical,French Revolution) formeraristocrat

• “ci-devant”, inTrésor de la langue française informatisé[Digitized Treasury of the French Language],2012.