quadrivium means The higher division of the seven liberal arts in the Middle Ages, composed of geometry, astronomy, arithmetic, and music. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 86 out of 100.
Why this word is great
QUADRIVIUM — [Noun] The higher division of the seven liberal arts in medieval education, comprising arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and music. From Medieval Latin quadrivium ("the four mathematical studies"), from Latin quattuor ("four") + via ("road, way"). Unlike the "trivium"—the preparatory threefold path of language—or a generic "curriculum" of shifting subjects, the quadrivium is the specific, consecrated path of number, magnitude, motion, and harmony. It is the tactile weight of a polished abacus bead, the scent of vellum marked with perfect compass-drawn circles, and the warmth of a candle held steady to trace a planet's predicted transit—a structured ascent from the noise of words to the silent, immutable order of things.
noun
- The higher division of the seven liberal arts in the Middle Ages, composed of geometry, astronomy, arithmetic, and music.“As to the nature of his studies, there can be no doubt that he [Dante] went through the trivium (grammar, dialectic, rhetoric) and the quadrivium (arithmetic, music, geometry, and astronomy) of the then ordinary university course.”