Aug
7
2004

word of the day: quiddity

quiddity \KWID-uh-tee\ - noun
*1 : whatever makes something the type that it is : essence
2 a : a trifling point : quibble b : crotchet, eccentricity

Example sentence:
“We wanted to enhance [the house] without ‘countrifying’ it — for it to retain its quiddity, its ‘whatness.’” (April Gornik in Architectural Digest, April 1989)

(From m-w.com.)

Posted at 5:24 PM in language

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