quadrivium

American  

[kwo-driv-ee-uhm] / kwɒˈdrɪv i əm /

noun

plural

quadrivia

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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Etymology

Origin of quadrivium

1795–1805; < Late Latin, special use of Latin quadrivium place where four ways meet; 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

The trivial studies, in most cases before the thirteenth century, sufficed to prepare for the study of theology, though those few who desired to prepare thoroughly also studied the subjects of the quadrivium.

From The History of Education; educational practice and progress considered as a phase of the development and spread of western civilization by Cubberley, Ellwood Patterson

The first figure in the representation of the quadrivium is Music, with Tubal Cain beneath.

From Old English Libraries by Savage, Ernest Albert