27 October 2015
quiddity
[kwid-i-tee]
noun, plural quiddities.
1. the quality that makes a thing what it is; the essential nature of a thing.
2. a trifling nicety of subtle distinction, as in argument.
Origin of quiddity
Medieval Latin
1530-1540; < Medieval Latin quidditās, equivalent to Latin quid what + -itās -ity
Dictionary.com
Examples from the Web for quiddity
Historical Examples
The suchness of being implies a previously existing being and quiddity.
Plotinos: Complete Works, v. 1
Plotinos (Plotinus)
Aristotle has thus shown how the Essence or quiddity (τί ἐστι) may become known in this class of cases.
Aristotle
George Grote
The lawyer’s clerk, whose name was quiddity, also set about publishing the whole of the matter abroad.
Forgotten Tales of Long Ago
E. V. Lucas
Anagram
Tidy quid
Today’s quote
Fear is proof of a degenerate mind.
– Virgil
On this day
27 October 1728 – birth of Captain James Cook, British explorer. Made three major voyages in which he discovered many of the islands of the south pacific, including the east coast of Australia. Cooktown, Queensland, is named after him. The house he grew up in was relocated from Yorkshire, England, to Melbourne, Australia and is open to visits (now known as Captain Cook’s Cottage and is situated in Fitzroy Gardens, Melbourne). Died 14 February 1779 after being stabbed by Hawaiians who credited their Chief Kalanimanokahoowaha (Kanaina) with the kill. Captain Cook’s body was then subjected a funeral ritual that was normally reserved for a Chief.
27 October 1923 – birth of Roy Lichtenstein, American pop artist. Died 29 September 1997.
27 October 1927 – death of Joseph Theodore Leslie (Squizzy) Taylor, Australian gangster, earned money from sly-grog, two-up, illegal bookmaking, extortion, prostitution, cocaine dealing. Died from a gunshot wound inflicted by ‘Snowy’ Cutmore. Born 29 June 1888.
27 October 2013 – death of Lou Reed (Lewis Allan Reed), American glam rock musician, singer and song-writer. Was lead singer of 60s alternative band, Velvet Underground, before going solo and having hits such as ‘Walk on the Wild Side’, ‘Vicious’, ‘Satellite of Love’ and ‘Perfect Day’. His albums Transformer and Berlin are considered among the most influential albums of the 20th century. Reed coined the term ‘Ostrich tuning’ in relation to a type of trivial tuning of strings. The six strings of a guitar are normally tuned to EADGbe. However in his 1964 song, The Ostrich (performed by the Primitives, which later became Velvet Underground) Reed tuned all six strings of his guitar to a single D note: DDDDdd. Born 2 March 1942.