quiddity
- noun
- /ˈkwɪdɪti/
- Formal
:
esencia
- The quiddity of the chair's design reflects its unique blend of comfort and style.
Examples
-
Aquinas insists that within Aristotle's philosophical framework, what is understood (intellectum) is normally not an intelligible species but the nature or quiddity of a thing, which remains the same for all intellects.
Academic text (2017) -
It manifests a distinctness and quiddity similar to those of the objects of the material world.
Academic text (1993) -
But competence and availability are the quiddity of a good physician.
Academic text (1994) -
Writing becomes a form of self-defense, a taming of things more than a loving celebration of their quiddity and individuality.
Academic text (1993) -
Understanding the quiddity of a person can help you appreciate their true character.
-
The artist captured the quiddity of the landscape in every brushstroke.
Synonyms
The quality that makes an object feel separate and real
A quality that makes a person or thing clearly different from all others
How Essential
Surface Forms
Morphology
quiddity = quidd + ity
The element '-ity' is a standard nominaliser, but the root 'quidd' is not a familiar English word, so the sense ('essence' or 'whatness') is not transparently recoverable by typical learners.
Etymology
Quiddity comes from the Latin root quid meaning 'what' and originally meant 'whatness'. So the word now also names the special 'what' of a thing — its essential nature or the quality that makes it what it is.