| 词源 |
quiddity. Quiddity can mean the “essence of a thing, its es- sential nature,” or be a “trifling subtle distinction in an argument.” It was probably first used (though not recorded) in the former sense, deriving ultimately from the Latin quid, “what.” But scholastics in the 16th century argued so much and so subtly about the quiddity, or essence, of things that quiddity came to mean a quibble as well. |