qua

[ 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.

Nearby words

qty., qu qiu bai, qu yuan, qu'appelle, qu., qua, quaalude, quack, quack grass, quacker, quackery

Origin of qua

1640–50; < Latin quā feminine ablative singular of quī who

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for qua

Nihil tamen a matrice alienatur a qua proprietates suas ducit.
History of Dogma, Volume 2 (of 7)|Adolph Harnack
Qua describitur autoris navigatio, quæque in mari vidit memoriæ prodenda: Villegagnonis in America gesta, etc.
The Rise of the Hugenots, Vol. 1 (of 2)|Henry Martyn Baird
A sister is a creature whose very property and tendency (qua sister) is to alienate herself, not to gather round your centre.
The Uncollected Writings of Thomas de Quincey, Vol. 2|Thomas de Quincey
They hated Englishmen, qua Englishmen, and made no secret of it.
Ireland as It Is|Robert John Buckley (AKA R.J.B.)

When I say “we,” I mean mankind generally, for things may exist qua one man and not qua another.
The Note-Books of Samuel Butler|Samuel Butler

British Dictionary definitions for qua

qua

/ (kweɪ, kwɑː) /

preposition

in the capacity of; by virtue of being

Word Origin for qua

C17: from Latin, ablative singular (feminine) of qui who

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

Word Origin and History for qua

qua

"as, in the capacity of," from Latin qua "where? on which side? at which place? which way? in what direction?" figuratively "how? in what manner? by what method?; to what extent? in what degree?" correlative pronomial adverb of place, from PIE *kwo-, stem of relative and interrogative pronouns (cf. Old English hwa "who;" see who).