Found 2 items, similar to quiddity.
English → English (WordNet) Definition: quiddity quiddity n 1: an evasion of the point of an argument by raising irrelevant distinctions or objections [syn: quibble, cavil] 2: the essence that makes something the kind of thing it is and makes it different from any other [syn: haecceity]
English → English (gcide) Definition: Quiddity Quiddity \Quid"di*ty\, n.; pl. Quiddities. [LL. quidditas, fr. L. quid what, neut. of quis who, akin to E. who: cf. F. quiddit['e].] 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. [1913 Webster] The quiddity or characteristic difference of poetry as distinguished from prose. --De Quincey. [1913 Webster] 2. A trifling nicety; a cavil; a quibble. [1913 Webster] We laugh at the quiddities of those writers now. --Coleridge. [1913 Webster]