Quid·di·ty n.; pl. Quiddities
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.”
The quiddity or characteristic difference of poetry as distinguished from prose. --De Quincey.
2. A trifling nicety; a cavil; a quibble.
We laugh at the quiddities of those writers now. --Coleridge.
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