status quo ante

noun

The state of things as they were before; a preexisting state of affairs.

OriginLatin stātus quō ante →
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Meanings

nounstatus quo ante (plural status quo antes)

plural status quo antes

  1. The state of things as they were before; a preexisting state of affairs.

Origin

  1. Latinstātus quō ante“the way things were before”
  2. Englishstatus quo ante

From the Latin stātus quō ante (“the way things were before”), possibly from stātus quō ante bellum (“the way things were before the war”).

More words from Latin

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

status quo ante. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/status%20quo%20ante

MLA

“status quo ante.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/status%20quo%20ante. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “status quo ante,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/status%20quo%20ante.

Source: status quo ante on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.