trivium

American  

[triv-ee-uhm] / ˈtrɪv i əm /

noun

1. (during the Middle Ages) the lower division of the seven liberal arts, comprising grammar, rhetoric, and logic.

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trivium British  

/ ˈtrɪvɪəm /

noun

1. (in medieval learning) the lower division of the seven liberal arts, consisting of grammar, rhetoric, and logic Compare quadrivium

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Etymology

Origin of trivium

1795–1805; < Medieval Latin, special use of Latin trivium public place, literally, place where three roads meet. See trivial

Example Sentences

She went on to write a PhD dissertation on the effect of formal rhetoric on Shakespeare’s language, and remained an evangelist for the use of the trivium in education.

From "Words Like Loaded Pistols" by Sam Leith

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

So that so far as Europe goes, one may very well regard this modern modern-language teaching as—with the modern mathematics—an extension of the trivium, of the apparatus, that is, of thought and expression.

From Mankind in the Making by Wells, H. G. (Herbert George)

After completing the trivium, those who wished for higher culture studied the quadrivium.

From History of Education by Seeley, Levi

Early university studies were in two parts, the trivium —grammar, rhetoric, and logic, and the quadrivium— music, astronomy, geometry, and arithmetic.

From Old English Libraries by Savage, Ernest Albert