quiddity
English
Etymology
From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Middle French quiddité, and its source, (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Late Latin quidditas, from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Latin quid + -itas.
Pronunciation
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Noun
quiddity (plural quiddities)
- (philosophy) The essence or inherent nature of a person or thing.
- 1822, October, Charles Lamb, The Old Actors, published in London Magazine, section on “Mr. Munden” (ebook):
- 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.
- 1822, October, Charles Lamb, The Old Actors, published in London Magazine, section on “Mr. Munden” (ebook):
- (law) A trifle; a nicety or quibble.
- An eccentricity; an odd feature.
Synonyms
- (essence): nature, quintessence, whatness; See also Thesaurus:essence
Coordinate terms
- (essence): quality
Derived terms
Translations
essence
|
eccentricity
|
trifle
See also
- “quiddity”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.