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

Inflected Forms

noun

• 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

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

Among the old Romans, a trivium meant a place where three ways met, and a quadrivium where four, or what we now call a cross-road.

From The Symbolism of Freemasonry by Mackey, Albert G.

He doubted "that the curriculum of any modern university shows so clear and generous a comprehension of what is meant by culture as this old trivium and quadrivium did."

From Education: How Old The New by Walsh, James J.