quiddity
/ˈkwɪdɪti/noun
quiddity is spelled Q-U-I-D-D-I-T-Y: 8 letters. It appears about once in every 48 million words in written English, the 214,628th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, quiddity means “The essence or inherent nature of a person or thing” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of quiddity is quiddities.
How many letters and syllables are in quiddity?
| Letters | 8: Q-U-I-D-D-I-T-Y |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 48 million words; the 214,628th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is quiddity?
Quiddity appears about once in every 48 million words in written English, the 214,628th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce quiddity?
- UK /ˈkwɪdɪti/
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-quiddity.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of quiddity
- quiddities plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does quiddity mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The essence or inherent nature of a person or thing.
- 2
A trifle; a nicety or quibble.
- 3
An eccentricity; an odd feature.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Quiddity in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | essence, quiddité , excentricité , bagatelle, broutille |
| Spanish | esencia, quiddidad, quididad , peculiaridad , minucia |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does quiddity come from?
From Middle English quidite, from Old French quidité, and its source, Late Latin quidditās, from Latin quid (“what”) + -itas (“-ness”) (whence -ity).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).