quodlibet
Americannoun
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a subtle or elaborate argument or point of debate, usually on a theological or scholastic subject.
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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.
noun
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a light piece of music based on two or more popular tunes
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a subtle argument, esp one prepared as an exercise on a theological topic
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
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
"I would have you to know that the common parish fool should be whipt, were he to attempt to pass pun or quodlibet as a genuine jest, even amongst ticket-porters and hackney chairmen."
From Peveril of the Peak by Scott, Walter, Sir
Primum itaque ducentorum quadraginta pedum longitudinem habentis �dificii structura disponitur, bis senis distincta spatiis, quorum quodlibet vicenorum pedum intercapedine tenderetur, pr�dict� quantitatis summam totalis spatii dispendio reddente.
From Notes and Queries, Number 51, October 19, 1850 by Various
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
Sic ergo Deus est causa omnis actionis prout quodlibet agens est instrumentum divinae virtutis operantis.”—St.
From Ontology or the Theory of Being by Coffey, Peter
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
