Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Status in quo \Sta"tus in` quo"\, Status quo \Sta"tus quo"\ .
   [L., state in which.]
   The state in which anything is already. The phrase is also
   used retrospectively, as when, on a treaty of place, matters
   return to the status quo ante bellum, or are left in statu
   quo ante bellum, i.e., the state (or, in the state) before
   the war.