quidditn.
/ˈkwɪdɪt/, U.S. /ˈkwɪdət/ Now rare.
= quiddity n. 2.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > understanding > reason, faculty of reasoning > misleading argument, sophistry > excessive subtlety, hair-splitting > trivial argument, quibble > [noun]
quiddity1539
quibc1540
quibibec1540
quirk1565
quillity1573
quid1576
quillet1576
quipa1592
quiddit1592
quidlit1598
quibibble1606
punctual1610
quidlibet1611
catasophistrya1614
quibbling1633
Scotism1645
quibble1650
thingum1672
quoddity1682
scruple1713
baffle1783
nit1982
1592 R. Greene Quip for Vpstart Courtier sig. Ev These lawyers haue..such quibs and quiddits.
1615 T. Overbury et al. New & Choise Characters with Wife (6th impr.) sig. L2 He makes his Will in forme of a Law-case, full of quiddits.
1635 T. Heywood Hierarchie Blessed Angells iv. 202 He..Stretches each Quiddit of the Law to finde Him culpable.
1779 Observ. on Pamphlet 101 This is the skull of a lawyer, where be now his quiddets, his quiltets, and his tricks?
1838 H. Smith Tor Hill II. 221 Rhyming couplets, quirks, quiddits and riddles.
1855 R. Browning Old Pictures in Florence xx, in Men & Women II. 40 The first of the new..Beats the last of the old, 'tis no idle quiddit.
1874 Burlington (Iowa) Weekly Hawk-eye 21 May 3/6 Those young ladies, however, whose prospects of marriage seemed remote, made no reply to these matrimonial quiddits.
1907 J. B. Tabb (title) Quips and Quiddits.
1913 Janesville (Wisconsin) Daily Gaz. 29 Nov. 4/1 Without any doubting or quiddit, He started to sing as he tackled the thing That couldn't be done—and he did it!
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2007; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1592