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Webster 1913 Edition

Quiddity

Quid′di-ty

,
Noun.
;
pl.
Quiddities
(#)
.
[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.

Webster 1828 Edition

Quiddity

QUID'DITY

,
Noun.
[L. quid, what.]
1.
A barbarous term used in school philosophy for essence, that unknown and undefinable something which constitutes its peculiar nature, or answers the question, quidest? The essence of a thing constitutes it tale quid, such a thing as it is, and not another.
2.
A trifling nicety; a cavil; a captious question.

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