Quiddities

1 definition found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Quiddity \Quid"di*ty\, n.; pl. {Quiddities}. [LL. quidditas, fr.
     L. quid what, neut. of quis who, akin to E. who: cf. F.
     quiddit['e].]
     1. The essence, nature, or distinctive peculiarity, of a
        thing; that which answers the question, Quid est? or, What
        is it? " The degree of nullity and quiddity." --Bacon.


        [1913 Webster]
  
              The quiddity or characteristic difference of poetry
              as distinguished from prose.          --De Quincey.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. A trifling nicety; a cavil; a quibble.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              We laugh at the quiddities of those writers now.
                                                    --Coleridge.
        [1913 Webster]