Qua

//kwɑː// intj, prep

intj, prep ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Preposition
  1. 1
    as; in the capacity of; acting as

    "Qua work of art, the work of art cannot be interpreted; there is nothing to interpret; we can only criticize it according to standards, in comparison to other works of art; […]"

Intj
  1. 1
    The cawing sound of a crow.

    "Crows have a language of their own in a wild state that any observant person can learn. […] Then he would straighten his head back and, with the most comical bowing and wagging, say: "Qua qua qua, qua qua qua" for perhaps a minute."

Example

More examples

"Grammar and usage are the sine qua non of language teaching and learning."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Latin quā (“in the capacity of”).

Etymology 2

Imitative.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.