David Zapatka
While reading in the October Mensa Bulletin, member and contributor Ruth said she loved watching old monster movies and said, “I preferred all these monsters to quotidian life.”
Quotidian: kwoh-TID-ee-uhn, adjective, 1. Occurring daily; happening every day 2. Ordinary or everyday, especially when mundane or trivial 3. (Medical) Recurring every day, particularly referring to a fever that returns daily noun 1. Something that occurs daily or is part of daily routine 2. (Medical, archaic) A fever that recurs every day
Origin and Etymology—The word “quotidian” entered English in the 14th century, derived from Middle English cotidian. It traces back through Old French to Latin quotidianus, which itself comes from quotidie, meaning “every day” or “daily.” This Latin term is a combination of quot (how many) and die (ablative of dies, meaning day)—literally “how many days,” but used to mean “each day.”
Examples in Sentences
The novelist excelled at finding profound meaning in quotidian activities like washing dishes or waiting for the bus.
What began as an exciting adventure abroad soon settled into a quotidian routine of work, meals, and sleep.
His photography captures the beauty hidden in quotidian urban scenes that most people pass without noticing.
The pandemic transformed quotidian pleasures like dining out or visiting friends into rare and precious occasions.
Examples used on the web:
Jaron Lanier, The New Yorker (Feb. 2, 2024): “But my belief is that the quotidian killer apps will come.”
Shannon Osaka, The Washington Post (July 10, 2023): “Two months later, the deaths were found to be the work of a much more quotidian source: Heat.”
Megan Garber, The Atlantic (April 22, 2018): “But part of the answer, too, is in the very things that are meant, in theory, to transcend the vagaries of quotidian concerns: our art.”
Jody Rosen, The New Yorker (July 23, 2023): “Messi will hold up his end of the bargain, supplying quotidian brilliance and a fair helping of paranormal thrills along the lines of Friday’s free kick.”
Jordan Mintzer, HollywoodReporter, (30 Oct. 2025): “There’s actually plenty of drama beneath the surface, but Zhang favors subtlety over histrionics, giving his film a quotidian feel that borders, at times, on documentary.”
In William Shakespeare’s play As You Like It, the character Rosalind observes that Orlando, who has been running about in the woods carving her name on trees and hanging love poems on branches, “seems to have the quotidian of love upon him.” His use of quotidian is just a short semantic step away from the “daily” adjective sense. Some fevers come and go but occur daily in medical use; these are called “quotidian fevers” or simply “quotidians.” Poor Orlando is afflicted with such a “fever” of love.
What quotidian routines or experiences would you like to share with our readers? Please submit your experiences or any word you may like to share along with your insights and comments to dzapatka@wbhsi.net.