Definition
A Latin term meaning "as long as" or "so long as." In legal usage, quamdiu functions as a word of limitation — a clause or phrase in a conveyance that defines the duration of an estate or interest by reference to a continuing condition. An estate granted quamdiu lasts only for so long as the specified condition or circumstance remains true. When the condition ceases, the estate terminates.
The classic formulation appears in grants of tenure and office: an appointee who holds a position quamdiu se bene gesserit ("as long as he shall behave himself well") holds during good behavior — a tenure conditional on continued conduct rather than terminable at will. This phrase became important in English constitutional history as the standard for judicial tenure, contrasted with durante beneplacito ("during good pleasure"), which signified tenure at the sovereign's will.
Common Language
Modern common usage (Wiktionary): Not attested as a general English word. Quamdiu is a Latin phrase that has not passed into ordinary English vocabulary.
Historical common usage (Webster's 1913): Not included. The term belongs to legal and ecclesiastical Latin rather than general usage.
Editorial note: Because quamdiu carries no competing ordinary-English meaning, there is no gap between lay and legal usage to navigate. The term is transparent Latin that requires translation rather than disambiguation.
Common Confusion
Quamdiu is sometimes conflated with durante, another Latin durational term appearing in similar contexts. The difference is structural: durante introduces a phrase describing the duration of a status (durante vita, "during life"; durante minore aetate, "during minority"), while quamdiu introduces a conditional clause tied to an ongoing fact or behavior. The practical effect can be similar — both delimit the span of an estate or office — but quamdiu carries an implicit conditionality: the estate endures only while the stated condition holds, making termination possible before the natural end of any fixed period.
Why It Matters in Research
Researchers will encounter quamdiu most frequently in two contexts: (1) medieval and early modern conveyancing, where it appears as a durational limitation in fee grants, leases, and tenure documents; and (2) constitutional and judicial history, where quamdiu se bene gesserit defined the tenure of English judges under the Act of Settlement 1701, distinguishing independent judicial tenure from royal-pleasure tenure.
In the conveyancing context, quamdiu signals a conditional limitation rather than a determinable limitation in the modern sense — a distinction that matters when tracing the development of defeasible estates. Researchers working with pre-1700 English land records or Year Books should treat the term as a flag for durational conditionality and trace what condition is attached, since the estate's entire structure turns on it.
In the constitutional context, the phrase quamdiu se bene gesserit is inseparable from discussions of judicial independence. Research on English judicial tenure, early American debates over the same question, and comparative constitutional scholarship will all require fluency with this phrase.
Corpus researchers should note that Burrill's cites multiple authorities (Co. Litt. 235a; 10 Co. 41b; Shep. Touch. 125) suggesting the term was well-established enough in the common law tradition to require cross-referencing across several treatise traditions. Burrill's entry is cut off mid-sentence at the boundary with the following maxim (Quando abest provisio partis...), which is a separate entry entirely — a transcription artifact to watch for in digitized versions.
Historical Dictionary Support
The three source dictionaries are in complete agreement on the core definition — "as long as; so long as" — and all three identify quamdiu as a word of limitation in old conveyances, citing Coke on Littleton (Co. Litt. 235a) as the primary authority.
Black's First and Second Editions are effectively identical, reflecting the standard practice of carrying forward settled Latin terms without revision. Burrill's adds two further authorities (10 Co. 41b and Shep. Touch. 125, referring to Sheppard's Touchstone of Common Assurances) and provides slightly fuller citation apparatus, consistent with Burrill's general approach of richer source documentation.
None of the three dictionaries develops the constitutional significance of quamdiu se bene gesserit as a judicial tenure standard, though Coke's reports (10 Co. 41b) touch on related office-holding questions. Researchers relying solely on these dictionary entries will find adequate notice that the term marks a durational limitation, but will need to consult broader sources — particularly Holdsworth's History of English Law and materials on the Act of Settlement — for its constitutional applications.
Jurisdictional Note
In American law, quamdiu se bene gesserit was directly influential on debates over federal and state judicial tenure during the founding period. Article III's "good behaviour" standard for federal judges echoes this formulation. State constitutions vary considerably; some adopted fixed terms rather than good-behavior tenure, making the quamdiu formulation relevant to historical analysis of individual state constitutional conventions rather than as a uniform national standard.