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.
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.
© Webster 1913.