tertium quid

American  

[tur-shee-uhm kwid, ter-ti-oom kwid] / ˈtɜr ʃi əm ˈkwɪd, ˈtɛr tɪˌʊm ˈkwɪd /

noun

1. something related in some way to two things, but distinct from both; something intermediate between two things.

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tertium quid British  

/ ˈtɜːtɪəm ˈkwɪd /

noun

1. an unknown or indefinite thing related in some way to two known or definite things, but distinct from both

   there is either right or wrong, with no tertium quid

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Etymology

Origin of tertium quid

1715–25; < Latin, translation of Greek tríton·ti some third thing

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

tertium quid

In this case, this blog is a tertium quid to my other two blogs—it’s related to them but something different altogether.

From Forbes ● Jul. 9, 2012

Ironists recalled that for many years Ferdinand and Marie were estranged by a tertium quid, Helene Vacarescu.

From Time Magazine Archive

Webb, the tertium quid, is more unlike Chesterton than seems possible.

From Time Magazine Archive

Even Republicans with slender classical training grasped the significance of a tertium quid.

From Union and Democracy by Johnson, Allen

In every period where art is alive there must be violent faction, and wherever there is violent faction there is sure to be a tertium quid that endeavors to bridge the quarrel.

From Contemporary American Composers Being a Study of the Music of This Country, Its Present Conditions and Its Future, with Critical Estimates and Biographies of the Principal Living Composers; and an Abundance of Portraits, Fac-simile Musical Autographs, and Compositions by Hughes, Rupert