quodlibet
noun
Did you know?
The Origin of Quodlibet
"Whatever." Try to get philosophical nowadays and that may be the response you hear. We don't know if someone quibbling over a minor philosophical or theological point 600 years ago might have gotten a similar reaction, but we do know that Latin quodlibet, meaning "any whatever," was the name given to such academic debates. Quodlibet is a form of quilibet, from qui, meaning "what," and libet, meaning "it pleases." We can't say with certainty how quodlibet went from disputations to musical conglomerations, but English speakers have been using quodlibet for light musical mélanges since the early 19th century.
Examples of quodlibet in a Sentence
Mark Swed, Los Angeles Times, 20 June 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'quodlibet.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near quodlibet
Cite this Entry
“Quodlibet.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/quodlibet. Accessed 4 Jul. 2024.
Copy Citation
Share