LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
noun · femininethird declension

quiditās

quiditās f (genitive quiditātis)
Classical[ˈkʷɪ.dɪ.taːs]Ecclesiastical[ˈkʷiː.di.tas]

Meaning

  1. Medieval Latinquiddity, whatness
    Omnis autem essentia vel quiditās potest intelligī sine hōc, quod aliquid intelligātur dē esse suō; possum enim intelligere quid est homō vel phoenīx et tamen ignōrāre an esse habeat in rērum nātūrā.But every essence or quiddity can be understood without anything being understood about its existence; for I can understand what a man is, or a phoenix, and yet not know whether it has existence in the nature of things.c. 1250, Thomas Aquinas, chapter 4, in Dē ente et essentiā:

Declension

declension
formsingularplural
nominativequiditāsquiditātēs
genitivequiditātisquiditātum
dativequiditātīquiditātibus
accusativequiditātemquiditātēs
ablativequiditātequiditātibus
vocativequiditāsquiditātēs

Origins

Proto-Indo-European *-teh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-ts Proto-Indo-European *-teh₂ts Proto-Italic *-tāts Latin -tās Latin quiditās From quid (“what”) + -tās (“ness”).

In English words that came into English from quiditās

  • quiddityquidditās

Quick answers

What does quiditās mean in Latin?
quiditās, a noun, means “quiddity, whatness”.
What is the genitive of quiditās?
The genitive singular is quiditātis. quiditās is feminine, third declension.
How do you pronounce quiditās?
In classical Latin, [ˈkʷɪ.dɪ.taːs]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [ˈkʷiː.di.tas].