Quiddity
WordNet
noun
(1) The essence that makes something the kind of thing it is and makes it different from any other
(2) An evasion of the point of an argument by raising irrelevant distinctions or objections
WiktionaryText
Noun
- the essence or inherent nature of a person or thing
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- 1962: My vision reeked with truth. It had the tone, / The quiddity and quaintness of its own / Reality. — Vladimir Nabokov, Pale Fire
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- a trifle; a nicety or quibble
- an eccentricity; an odd feature
- the essence, nature, or distinctive peculiarity of a thing
- a hairsplitting distinction; a trifling point; a quibble