quiddity

quiddity

English

WOTD – 17 August 2015

Etymology

From Middle French quiddité, and its source, Late Latin quidditas, from Latin quid + -itas.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈkwɪdɪti/

  • Audio (UK)

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Noun

quiddity (countable and uncountable, plural quiddities)

1. (philosophy) The essence or inherent nature of a person or thing.
   • OCtober 1822, Charles Lamb, “The Old Actors”, in London Magazine‎, Mr. Munden:

     A tub of butter, contemplated by him, amounts to a Platonic idea. He understands a leg of mutton in its quiddity. He stands wondering, amid the commonplace materials of life, like primæval man, with the sun and stars about him.

   • 1962, Vladimir Nabokov, Pale Fire:

     My vision reeked with truth. It had the tone,
     The quiddity and quaintness of its own
     Reality.

   • 1978, Lawrence Durrell, Livia, Faber & Faber 1992 (Avignon Quintet), p. 352:

     He represented my quiddity I suppose – the part which, thanks to you, has converted a black pessimism about life into a belief in cosmic absurdity.

2. (law) A trifle; a nicety or quibble.
3. An eccentricity; an odd feature.

Synonyms

• (essence): nature, quintessence, whatness; See also Thesaurus:essence

Coordinate terms

• (essence): quality
• quoddity

Derived terms

• quidditative

Translations

essence

Armenian: էություն (hy) (ēutʿyun) French: essence (fr) f, quiddité (fr) f Georgian: არსი (arsi), დედაარსი (dedaarsi), დედააზრი (dedaazri), რაობა (raoba) Occitan: quidditat f, quiditat f Russian: су́щность (ru) f (súščnostʹ), суть (ru) f (sutʹ) Spanish: esencia (es) f, quiddidad, quididad f Tagalog: kaitungaan

eccentricity

French: excentricité (fr) f Spanish: peculiaridad (es) f

trifle

French: bagatelle (fr) f, broutille (fr) f Spanish: minucia (es) f

See also

• quiddity at OneLook Dictionary Search