quiditas

Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word quiditas. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word quiditas, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say quiditas in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word quiditas you have here. The definition of the word quiditas will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition ofquiditas, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.

Latin

Alternative forms

Etymology

From quid (what) +‎ -tās (ness).

Pronunciation

Noun

quiditās f (genitive quiditātis); third declension

  1. (Medieval Latin) quiddity, whatness
    • c. 1250, Thomas Aquinas, chapter 4, in Dē ente et essentiā:
      Omnis autem essentia vel quiditās potest intelligī sine hōc, quod aliquid intelligātur dē esse suō; possum enim intelligere quid est homō vel phoenīx et tamen ignōrāre an esse habeat in rērum nātūrā.
      But every essence or quiddity can be understood without anything being understood about its existence; for I can understand what a man is, or a phoenix, and yet not know whether it has existence in the nature of things.

Declension

Third-declension noun.

singular plural
nominative quiditās quiditātēs
genitive quiditātis quiditātum
dative quiditātī quiditātibus
accusative quiditātem quiditātēs
ablative quiditāte quiditātibus
vocative quiditās quiditātēs