quodlibet

American  

[kwod-luh-bet] / ˈkwɒd ləˌbɛt /

noun

1. a subtle or elaborate argument or point of debate, usually on a theological or scholastic subject.

2. 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.

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quodlibet British  

/ ˈkwɒdlɪˌbɛt /

noun

1. a light piece of music based on two or more popular tunes

2. a subtle argument, esp one prepared as an exercise on a theological topic

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Other Word Forms

• quodlibetic adjective
• quodlibetical adjective
• quodlibetically adverb
• quodlibeticlly adverb

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

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

Et habet quodlibet millenariorum in his vestibus colorem sibi proprium: primum viridem, secundum vermiculum, tertium croceum, quartum purpureum, seu indicum.

From The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques and Discoveries of the English Nation — Volume 08 Asia, Part I by Hakluyt, Richard

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

And this he is not contented to maintain himself, but he will needs father it upon his antagonist by such logic, forsooth, as can infer quidlibet ex quodlibet.

From The Works of Mr. George Gillespie (Vol. 1 of 2) by Gillespie, George

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