quodlibet

American  

[kwod-luh-bet] / ˈkwɒd ləˌbɛt /

noun

1. a subtle or elaborate argument or point of debate, usually on a theological or scholastic subject.

2. Music. a humorous composition consisting of two or more independent and harmonically complementary melodies, usually quotations of well-known tunes, played or sung together, usually to different texts, in a polyphonic arrangement.

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quodlibet British  

/ ˈkwɒdlɪˌbɛt /

noun

1. a light piece of music based on two or more popular tunes

2. a subtle argument, esp one prepared as an exercise on a theological topic

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Other Word Forms

• quodlibetic adjective
• quodlibetical adjective
• quodlibetically adverb
• quodlibeticlly adverb

Etymology

Origin of quodlibet

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Medieval Latin noun quodlibētum “whatever subject you like,” from Latin indefinite pronoun and adjective quod libet “what(ever) pleases, as you please”

Example Sentences

Maybe it was the night’s full moon, but what are the odds that this concerto, which not only quotes a spiritual, ends with the obscure Baroque form of a quodlibet?

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 6, 2017

Et quodlibet istorum regnorum habet linguam per se.

From The Travels of Marco Polo — Volume 2 by Yule, Henry

I suppose you saw his last quodlibet with the sheriff's portrait, and the autographs of all the magistrates, and with a few bank-notes mixed up with them.

From The Village Notary by E?tv?s, J?zsef

Hoffmann, in the mean time, had seated himself at the harpsichord, and drew a quodlibet from the most varied Burschen songs, leaping from one to the other, and interweaving phantasy-pieces between them.

From The Student-Life of Germany by Howitt, William

Innuunt in eis latere magna mysteria, et quodlibet horum factorum melodia terminat Musicorum.

From The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques and Discoveries of the English Nation — Volume 08 Asia, Part I by Hakluyt, Richard