quiddity

quiddity
    n 1: an evasion of the point of an argument by raising
         irrelevant distinctions or objections [syn: {quibble},
         {quiddity}, {cavil}]
    2: the essence that makes something the kind of thing it is and
       makes it different from any other [syn: {quiddity},
       {haecceity}]
    

Quiddity \Quid"di*ty\, n.; pl. {Quiddities}. [LL. quidditas, fr.
   L. quid what, neut. of quis who, akin to E. who: cf. F.
   quiddit['e].]
   1. The essence, nature, or distinctive peculiarity, of a
      thing; that which answers the question, Quid est? or, What
      is it? " The degree of nullity and quiddity." --Bacon.
      [1913 Webster]

            The quiddity or characteristic difference of poetry
            as distinguished from prose.          --De Quincey.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. A trifling nicety; a cavil; a quibble.
      [1913 Webster]

            We laugh at the quiddities of those writers now.
                                                  --Coleridge.
      [1913 Webster]
    

40 Moby Thesaurus words for "quiddity":
      axiom, cavil, center, core, dodge, elixir, essence, essential,
      flower, focus, fundamental, gist, gravamen, heart, hypostasis,
      inner essence, jesuitism, kernel, marrow, meat, nub, nucleus,
      nuts and bolts, pith, postulate, principle, quibble, quid, quillet,
      quintessence, quip, quirk, quodlibet, sap, shuffle, soul, spirit,
      stuff, substance, the nitty-gritty