quodlibet means A form of music with melodies in counterpoint. It carries an Arena rating of 1678, earned across 7 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, quodlibet ranks #1,673 of 17,140 for Most Whimsical Words, #2,664 of 17,127 for Most Vivid Words, #3,021 of 17,143 for Best Fossil-Poetry Words, #4,159 of 17,130 for Most Beautiful Words.
Why “quodlibet” is a great word
A composition combining several pre-existing melodies in counterpoint, often humorously, or a trompe l'oeil painting of everyday objects. From the Latin quod ("that which") and libet ("it pleases"), literally "that which is pleasing." Unlike a medley, which is a simple sequence of tunes, or a disputation, which is a formal argument, a quodlibet is an exercise in layered, playful simultaneity. It is J.S. Bach weaving drunken folk songs into the sober architecture of the Goldberg Variations, the visual pun of a painted nail seemingly protruding from the canvas, and the scholarly mind at leisure, delighted by its own cleverness—a formal proof that joy, too, has its own serious architecture.
Etymology
From Latin quod libet (“that which is pleasing”).
noun
- A form of music with melodies in counterpoint.
- A form of trompe l'oeil which realistically renders domestic items (paper-knives, playing-cards, ribbons, etc).
- A card game that combines several different contracts.
- A mode of philosophical debate popular in the Middle Ages, in which any question could be posed extemporaneously.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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