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

And Boëthius is the name associated with the scheme of higher education that preceded the University teaching, called the quadrivium, or quadruple group of subjects, namely, Arithmetic, Geometry, Music and Astronomy.

From Practical Essays by Alexander Bain

Honest folk are jeeringly forbidden to beware of the quadrivium, which is apt to form a fourfold rogue instead of a scholar in four branches of knowledge.

From Wine, Women, and Song Mediaeval Latin Students' songs; Now first translated into English verse by John Addington Symonds