quadrivium

American  

[kwo-driv-ee-uhm] / kwɒˈdrɪv i əm /

noun

quadrivia plural

1. (during the Middle Ages) the more advanced division of the seven liberal arts, comprising arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and music.

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quadrivium British  

/ kwɒˈdrɪvɪəm /

noun

1. (in medieval learning) the higher division of the seven liberal arts, consisting of arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and music Compare trivium

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• quadrivia
  plural

Etymology

Origin of quadrivium

1795–1805; < Late Latin, special use of Latin quadrivium place where four ways meet; see quadri-, via, -ium

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

quadrivium

Herschel believed that music belonged as one of the four liberal arts of the quadrivium, alongside arithmetic, geometry and astronomy.

From New York Times ● Jun. 27, 2022

This Pythagorean view re-emerged in medieval universities, where scholars studied the quadrivium, which divided the science of mathematics into four parts: geometry and arithmetic, astronomy and music.

From The Guardian ● Jul. 2, 2010

The three arts of the trivium relate to the mind, and the four of the quadrivium to matter.

From "Words Like Loaded Pistols" by Sam Leith

The usual course of study in the universities was divided into what was known as the trivium and the quadrivium.

From General History for Colleges and High Schools by Myers, Philip Van Ness

The regular list of studies that came to be adopted everywhere comprised seven nominal branches, divided into two groups—the so-called quadrivium, comprising music, arithmetic, geometry, and astronomy; and the trivium comprising grammar, rhetoric, and logic.

From A History of Science — Volume 2 by Williams, Henry Smith