Category:Quiddity

Quid"di*ty, n.; pl. Quiddities. Etym: [ll. quidditas, fr. L. quid What, neut. of quis who, akin to e. who: cf. F. quiddité.]

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. The quiddity or characteristic difference of poetry as distinguished From prose. De quincey.

2. A trifling nicety; a cavil; a quibble. We laugh at the quiddities of those writers now. Coleridge.