Hypertext Webster Gateway: "quiddities"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Quiddity \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.
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