quiddity

[ kwid-i-tee ]

/ ˈkwɪd ɪ ti /

the quality that makes a thing what it is; the essential nature of a thing.

a trifling nicety of subtle distinction, as in argument.

Origin of quiddity

1350–1400; < Medieval Latin quidditās, equivalent to Latin quid what + -itās -ity

Aristotle has thus shown how the Essence or Quiddity (τί ἐστι) may become known in this class of cases.

Aristotle |George Grote
Whatness and affections (quiddity) of being distinguishes between, ii.

Plotinos: Complete Works, v. 4 |Plotinos (Plotinus)
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
The suchness of being implies a previously existing being and quiddity.

Plotinos: Complete Works, v. 1 |Plotinos (Plotinus)

There you indeed appreciate the dead-alive city 'in all its quiddity.'

A Day's Tour |Percy Fitzgerald

quiddity

/ (ˈkwɪdɪtɪ) /

philosophy the essential nature of something Compare haecceity

a petty or trifling distinction; quibble

C16: from Medieval Latin quidditās, from Latin quid what