qua

American

[kwey, kwah] / kweɪ, kwɑ /

adverb

as; as being; in the character or capacity of.

The work of art qua art can be judged by aesthetic criteria only.

qua British

/ kwɑː, kweɪ /

preposition

in the capacity of; by virtue of being

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of qua

First recorded in 1640–50; from Latin quā, feminine ablative singular of the relative pronoun quī who

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023