Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun The real nature of a thing; the essence.
- noun A hairsplitting distinction; a quibble.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun In scholastic philos., that which distinguishes a thing from other things, and makes it what it is, and not another; substantial form; nature.
- noun A trifling nicety; a cavil; a quirk or quibble.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun The essence, nature, or distinctive peculiarity, of a thing; that which answers the question,
Quid est ? or, What is it? - noun A trifling nicety; a cavil; a quibble.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun The essence or inherent nature of a person or thing.
- noun A trifle; a
nicety orquibble - noun An eccentricity; an odd feature
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun an evasion of the point of an argument by raising irrelevant distinctions or objections
- noun the essence that makes something the kind of thing it is and makes it different from any other
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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I was reminded of contranyms when Matt sent me an email about the word quiddity which means both “essence” and “hairsplitting distinction.”
Rambles at starchamber.com » Blog Archive » Self-contradictory words 2006
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It has therefore been termed the quiddity of the thing.
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 7: Gregory XII-Infallability 1840-1916 1913
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A novelist's ultimate achievement is to enable us to know a character so well that we catch a glimpse of his inviolable unknowability, his singular quiddity -- in other words, though Wood doesn't use the term, his soul.
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The real but initially hidden starting point for Bonaventure's ontological argument in the Journey is the notion of esse purissimum, taken not subjectively as existing as a concept in a human mind, but in its objective meaning, [63] that is, as signifying a certain kind of quiddity or essence.
Amputee 2009
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This may be expressed in the form of the apophatic theology of an Ibn Sina or Maimonides or Nicholas of Cusa: Ibn Sina (like Aquinas and all that flows from him) insists that there can be no answer to the question, 'What makes God divine?' as if some 'quiddity' could be identified that grounded a divine definition.
'Analysing Atheism; Unbelief and the world of Faiths' Georgetown University, Washington DC 2004
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A novelist’s ultimate achievement is to enable us to know a character so well that we catch a glimpse of his inviolable unknowability, his singular quiddity – in other words, though Wood doesn’t use the term, his soul.
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A novelist’s ultimate achievement is to enable us to know a character so well that we catch a glimpse of his inviolable unknowability, his singular quiddity – in other words, though Wood doesn’t use the term, his soul.
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A novelist’s ultimate achievement is to enable us to know a character so well that we catch a glimpse of his inviolable unknowability, his singular quiddity – in other words, though Wood doesn’t use the term, his soul.
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The quiddity of a terminal is smarm, or perhaps a smarmy hustling: sweating, fat men counting bills with strange intensity under a light besieged by insects.
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I even prefer it over college basketball, (although I think the two are apples and oranges, but that's another post: the ontological quiddity of pro vs. college b-ball).
Sports 2009
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The internet provides quick information: In three seconds I ascertain the meaning of quiddity—the inherent nature or essence of someone or something.
On Writing: An Abecedarian | The Hudson Review Priscilla Long 2023
oroboros commented on the word quiddity
On my contranym list. Meaning: niggling distinction vs. defining character of, i.e.,quintessence
December 27, 2006
dstrassel commented on the word quiddity
Oxford University Press philosophy dictionary provides an alternative definition:
"The real essence or nature of a thing; that which makes it the kind of thing that it is (sometimes opposed to haecceity which makes it the particular individual that it is)."
December 14, 2007
reesetee commented on the word quiddity
See also: my brother.
December 14, 2007
smeggo commented on the word quiddity
I beg to differ.
December 7, 2008
jaime_d commented on the word quiddity
"or a giant grampus, baiting Jonah, trapping Cain, haunting Ahab; all avatars of that vital quiddity which no ocular straining will pull into focus. . ." Gilbert Adair translation of Georges Perec's La Disparition
August 11, 2010
TankHughes commented on the word quiddity
I feel like this is my stretch of English language highway to keep tidy for the year. So far, so good.
September 9, 2015