ci-devant (adj.)

"former, late, ex-," applied to a person with reference to an office or position he no longer occupies, 1790, from French, properly an adverb, "formerly, before," from ci, contracted from ici "here," + devant, from Old French davant, properly d'avant, from de "of" + avant "before" (see avant).

updated on December 08, 2017