3290 quiddities] Minsheu (1617, rpt. 1978, Quidditie): “or subtile question, ex L. Quidditas, i quæsto curiosa, à quærendo. Unde & Anglic: Quirkes, & Quiddities. G.Quiddiré. I. Quidditá. H. Quiddidáde. T.B. Quiddité, ein sehr subtile frage, I. valdé subtilus quæstio. De quid enim rei inquirit, quód quid cum non possit nisi ex sua causa, sua causa iterum ex sua, & ita conseqquenter, cognosci, causa autem omnium & ita suprema quæ Deus, ut ultra quem nulla causa, sequetur artem hanc ad ipsum usq[ue] adscendere Deum, aut quód Deo proximum. De quid autem & ita re cum agatur, recté Gr. usithj , I. rei abstracta quidditas, ac si dicas ipsissima substantia, usia ab I. substantia. Br. Dawsnair, àdwsn profundum, & gair, verbum. “

3290 quiddities] Blount (1656; rpt. 1969, quiddity): “Quiddity (quidditas) the essence of a thing, the being or definition of a thing; a term in Philosophy.”

3291 quillites] PECK (1740, p. 230) : <p. 230> “The word occurs often in our author, & is always used to signifie a quirk of the law, or a quibble.” </p. 230>

provides the following definition for quillets in a brief comparison of Shakespeare’s uses of the term in his various plays, including this passage, which he identifies as “Hamlet. Vol. VII. p. 347”:

3291 quillites] Hanmer (ed. 1744, 6: Glossary, quillets): “quibbles, querks, subtleties.”

3290 quillites] CAPELL (1779-83 [1774]:1:1:Glossary) : “Quillets (Tim. 4.3.155[1771]) a Contraction of — Quidlibets, any Things: from the Latin Words—quid or quod libet, what you will. Quiddities & Quillities have the same Origin, and nearly the same Meaning. “

3291 quillites] Blair (ed. 1753, quillets): “law-chicane, a false charge, or an evasive answer.”

3290 quiddities] Johnson (1755, quiddit): “n.s. [corrupted from quidlibet, Lt. or from que dit, Fr.] A subtilty; an equivocation. A low word. [cites Hamlet].”

3290 quiddities] Johnson (1755, quiddity, 1, 2): “n.s. [quidditas, low Latin.] 1. Essence; that which is a proper answer to the question, quid est? a scholastick term.’He could reduce all things to acts, And knew their natures and abstracts, Where entity and quiddity, The ghosts of defunct bodies fly.’ Hudibras.”

“2. A trifling nicety; a cavil; a captious question. ‘Misnomer in our laws, and other quiddities, I leave to the professors of law.’ Camden’s Remains.”

3290 quillites] Johnson (1755, quillet): “n.s. [quidlibet, Lat.] Subtilty; nicety; fradulent distinction.

“[cites Hamlet] ‘A great soul weighs in the scale of reason, what it is to judge of, rather than dwell with too scrupulous a diligence upon little quillets and niceties.’ Digby. ‘Ply her with love letters and billets, And bait them well for quirks and quillets.’ Hudibras.”

3291 tenurs] Johnson (1755, tenure): “n.s. [teneo, Lat. tenure, Fr. tenura, law Latin.] ‘Tenure is the manner whereby tenements are holden of their lords. In Scotland are four tenures; the first is pura eleemosina, which is proper to spiritual men, paying nothing for it, but devota animarum suffragia; the second they call few, which holds of the king, church, barons, or others, paying a certain duty called feudi firma; the third is a holding in blanch by payment of a peny, rose, pair of gilt spurs, or some such thing, if asked; the fourth is by service of ward ad relief, where the heir being minor is in the custody of his lord, together with his lands, &c. and land holden in this fourth manner is called feudum de hauberk or haubert, feudum militare or loricatum. Tenure in gross is the tenure in capite; for the crown is called a seignory in gross, because a corporation of and by itself.’ Cowel

“‘The service follows the tenure of lands; and the lands were given away by the kings of England to those lords.’ Spenser ‘The uncertainty of tenure, by which all worldly things are held, ministers very unpleasant meditation.’ Raleigh.’Must be known, his strength, his state, And by that tenure he holds all of fate.’ Dryden.”

3290 quiddities] Steevens (ed. 1778) : “i.e. subtilties. So, in Soliman and Perseda: ‘I am wise, but quiddits will not answer death.’ Again, in Ram-Alley, or Merry Tricks, 1611: ‘Nay, good Sir Throat, forbear your quillets now.’ STEEVENS”

3290 quiddities]

3290 quiddities]

3290 quiddities] Mason (1785, p. 396) notes: <p. 396> “This word occurs in Every Man out of His Humou r, where Shift says, ‘Causes have their quiddits, and Tis ill joking with bel-ropes.’” </p. 396>

3290 quiddities]

3290 quiddits] Malone (ed. 1790) : “Again, in Drayton’s Owle, 4to, 1604: ‘By some strange quiddit, or some wrested clause, To find him guiltie of the breach of lawes.’ MALONE”

3291 quillites] Malone (ed. 1790) : “Quillets are nice and frivolous distinctions. The word is rendered by Coles in his Latin Dictionary, 1679, res friuola .”

3290-91 quiddites now, his quillets ] Rann (ed. 1791-) : “subtleties and nice distinctions.”

3290 quiddits]

3290 quiddities]

3290 quiddities]

3290 quiddities] Todd (1818, quiddit): “†n.s. [corrupted from quidlibet, Lt. or from que dit, Fr.] A subtilty; an equivocation. A low word. [cites Hamlet][cites Jonson’s Every Man Out].”

3290 quiddities] Todd (1818, quiddity, 1, 2): “†n.s. [quidditas, low Latin.] 1. Essence; that which is a proper answer to the question, quid est? a scholastick term. ‘I trowe, some mathematical quidditee, they cannot tell what. Abp. Cranmer, Answ. to Bp. Gardiner, p. 120 ‘The quiddity and essence of the incomprehensible Creator cannot imprint any formal conception upon the finite intellect of the creture.’ Howell, Lett. ii.11 ‘He could reduce all things to acts, And knew their natures and abstracts, Where entity and quiddity, The ghosts of defunct bodies fly.’ Hudibras. 2. A trifling nicety; a cavil; a captious question. ‘Misnomer in our laws, and other quiddities, I leave to the professors of law.’ Camden’s Remains. [cites 1H4] ‘Such quirks and quiddities.’ Burton, Ant. of Mel. p. 676”

3290 quillites] Todd (1818, quillet): “† n.s. [quidlibet, Lat.Warburton was of opinion, that quillet is the peculiar word applied to law-chicane, and that the original of it was probably this. In the French pleadings, every several allegations in the plaintiff’s charge, and every distinct plea in the defendant’s answer, began with the words qu’il est; whence was formed the word quillet, to signify a false charge, or an evasive answer. But, as Mr. Douce has observed, there is no such term in theFrench language; nor is it exclusively appplicable to law-chicane, though generally so used by Shakspeare. It strictly means a subtilty, and seems to have originated among the schoolmen of the middle ages, by whom it was called a quidlibet See Ill.s of Shakspeare, i.231]] Subtilty; nicety; fradulent distinction. [cites Hamlet][cites B&F Tam. Tamed] ‘A great soul weighs in the scale of reason, what it is to judge of, rather than dwell with too scrupulous a diligence upon little quillets and niceties.’ Digby. ‘Ply her with love letters and billets, And bait them well for quirks and quillets.’ Hudibras.”

3290 quiddities] Caldecott (ed. 1819) : “Subtleties. A term, borrowed from the schools. ‘Entermedlyng and troubling their braynes with scrupulous quiddityes and diffuse questions.’ Newton’s Lemnie’s Touchstone of Complexions, 12mo. 1581, fo. 77. ‘Plays with his sophemes and quyddities .’ Taverner’s Garden of Wysdom, 12mo. 1539, signat. B. 4, b. ‘Diogenes mockyng suche quidificall trifles (the Idees, as the tabletees and cuppytees of Plato ), that wer all in the cherubyns.’ Nic. Udall’s Erasm. Apopthegm, 12 mo. 1542, fo. 124.”

3291 quillites] Caldecott (ed. 1819) : “See (LLL 4.3.284[1637]) Longuev.”

3290 quiddities]

3290 quiddities] Boswell (ed. 1821, 21:Glossary): “subtilties.”

3291 quillites] Boswell (ed. 1821, 21:Glossary): “quillets]] subtilties.”

3290 quiddities] Nares (1822; 1906) : “Quiddit ]]s. A contraction of quiddity, which is from quiditas, low Latin, not from quidlibet. It was used, as quiddity also was, for a subtilty, or nice refinement. Generally applied to the subtilties of lawyers. [cited Hamlet] ‘We are but quit: you fool us of our monies In every cause, in every quiddit wipe us.’ B&F Spanish Curate, iv.5 ‘By some strange quiddit, or some wrested clause, To find him guiltie of the breach of laws.’ Drayton’s Owl , p. 1302.”

3290 quiddities] Nares (1822, 1906) :”Quiddity ]] s. Originally, the nature or essence of any thing; in which sense the scholastic term quiditas was employed, which, literally rendered, would be ‘somethingness;’ and thus we find it in Hudibras, ‘entity and quiddity,’ which he wittily calls the ‘ghosts of defunct bodies.’ But it was more commonly used for any subtile quirk, or pretence: ‘Why how now, mad wag, what are thy quips and thy quiddities.’ 1H4 1.2. (158)

“So Cranmer, as quoted by Todd, employed it for any nice mathematical position: ‘I trowe, some mathematical quidditie, they cannot tell what.’ Answ. to Gardiner.

“Marston has ventured to use the quid, for the quiditas: ‘—For you must know my age Hath seen the being and the quid of things, I know dimensions and the terminy Of all existence.’ Parasitaster, Act I.”

3290 quillites] Nares (1822; 1906): “Quillet]]s. A sly trick, or turn, in argument, or excuse. That this is the meaning of the word, all the examples prove; but though it seems so familar, and is so common, this little word has sorely teazed the etymologists. I suspect, after all, that N. Bailey’s is the best derivation. He says it is for quibblet, as a dimunitive of quibble. Mr. Douce, a most respectable authority, forms it from quidlibet; (Illusti.231) but, unfortunately, quodlibet was the scholastic term, and was never varied. We have, indeed, quilibet, in Blount’s Glossographia, but he gives it as peculiar to the Inner Temple, and always joined with quippe, to signify certain small payments. Warburton’s attempt to derive it from qu’ il est is only ridiculous. Mr. Pegge, quoted in the notes to Hudibras, III. iii. 748. says, quillet meant a small parcel of land; but he gives no authority for it except Minshew, who says nothing of the land. [1876 enl. & rev. :A quillet is very common in Anglesea in the present day, signifying a small strip of land in the middle of another person’s field, commonly marked out by boundary stones, and arising from the tenture of gavelkind formerly in force there.]Nor do I find that he had any proof of the other things he suggests. Bishop Wilkins explains it, ‘a frivolousness,’ which leads to nothing. I return, therefore, to the opinion with which I set out, that quillet is quasi quibblet, a little quibble. [cites Hamlet] ‘—In these nice sharp quillets of the law, Good faith, I am no wiser than a daw. 1H6 2.4 (946) ‘—Let her leave her bobs, (I’ve had too many of them) and her quillets, She is as nimble that way as an eel.’ B&Fl Tamer Tamed iv.1. ‘Nay, good Sir Throate, forbear your quillets now.’ Ram Alley, O. Pl. v. 427”

“Many other examples have been produced, but they all tend the same way.[1876 enl. and revised: †Who taking the opportunities of the judges cares, in many matters distracted, linking and entangling causes with insoluble quirkes and quilits, endevour by long demurres to ahve controversies depending still, and by their intricat questions that of purpose they foist in, hold off and delay judgements. Hollands Ammianus Marcel., 1609.”]

3290-91 quiddites now, his quillets ] Singer (ed. 1826) : “Quiddits are quirks, or subtle questions; and quillets are nice and frivolous distinctions. The etymology of this last foolish word has plagued many learned heads. I think that Blount, in his glossography, clearly points out quodlibet as the origin of it. Bishop Wilkins calls a quillet ‘a frivolousness;’ and Coles in his Latin Dict. res friuola . I find the quarto of 1603 has quirks instead of quiddits .”

3290, 3291 quiddities, quillites] Valpy (ed. 1833): "Nice and frivolous distinctions."

3290, 3291 quiddities, quillites] Mitford (1845, p. 129): <p. 129>“For ‘quiddits’ see Heywood’s Hierarchie, p. 202, fol. 1633, ‘Stretches each quiddit of the law to find Him culpable.’ And see Dolarney’s Primrose, (a copy of this passage of Hamlet,) 1606, 4to. ‘Why might not this have been some lawyer pate The which sometimes bribed, bawled, and took a fee? Your quirks and quillets now, Sir, where by they? Now he is mute and not a word can saye.’

“For ‘quillets,’ see the Honest Lawyer, p. 69, ‘Upon my faith, a pretty quillet.’ and Trick to Catch the Old one, (Middleton,) Act I. sc. 1, ‘He is swallowed in the quicksand of law quillets:’ and the original meaning of the word ‘quillets’ may been seen in Fuller’s Worthies, art. Suffolk, voce Stiles, p. 55.” </p. 129>

3290 quiddities] Singer (ed. 1856) : “It became quidlibet, quiblet, and then quillet , which Bishop Wilkins calls ‘a frivolousness;’”

3289-3303 Why may not . . . . no more] Elze (ed. 1857): "StR hat ’quiddities’ und ’quillities’.—Quiddity, abgekürzt quiddit, ist das lat. Quidditas, nicht wie Webster will ’quidlibet’ oder gar franz.: que dit. Für die wahrscheinlichste Etymologie von ’quillet’ erklärt Nares ’quibblet’, als Deminutiv von ’quibble’; Douce I, 231 dagegen leitet es von’quidlibet’ her. Nares s. Quiddit und Quillet." ["StR [1766 Steevens’ edition] has ’quiddities’ and ’quillites.’—Quddity, abbreviated quiddit, is the Latin Quiddtas, not as Webster desires, ’quidlibet’ or even French, "que dit.’ For the probably etymology of ’quillet, Nares explains, ’quibblet’ as a dimunitive from ’quibble..’ Douce I, 231 however derives it from ’quidlibet." Nares, see Quiddit and Quillet."]

3291 quillites] Collier (ed. 1858, Glossary): “quillets]] quidlibets, trifles.”

3289-3303 Why may not . . . . no more] Rushton (1858, pp. 7-11 ): <p.7> “Why should Hamlet, in his reflections on a skull, suppose that it belonged to a lawyer, in preference to a doctor or a divine? But let the reader notice how many law terms are made use of in this passage [quotes full passage with law terms, to which he refers below, in italics].

“Quiddets and quillets, cases and tenures, are terms with which many persons, who are not at all familiar with the laws of England, are perfectly well acquainted. But statutes, and recognizances, fines, double vouchers, and recoveries are somewhat more technical and abstruse. Recognizance, (recognitio,) though in special signification it only acknowledges a certian debt, and is executed upon all the goods and half of the lands of the recognizor, yet by extension it is drawn also to bonds, commonly called statute merchant and statute of the staple. A statute merchant (so called from the 13th Edward I., De mercatoribus,) was a bond acknowledged before one of the clerks of the statutes merchant, and mayor, or chief warden of the city of London, or two merchants of the said city, for that purpose assigned; or before the mayor, </p.7><p.8> chief warden, or master of other cities or good towns, or other sufficient men for that purpose appointed, sealed with the seal of the depter of the King, which was of two pieces, the greater was kept by the said mayor, chief warden, &c., and the lesser piece thereof by the said clerks. Statute staple was either properly so called or improperly. A statute staple, properly so called, was a bond of record, acknowledged before the mayor of the staple, in the presence of the two constables of the same staple, founded upon the statute anno 27th Edward III., cap. 9. A statute improper, was a bond of record, founded upon the statute anno 23rd Henry VIII., cap. 6, of the nature of a proper statute staple, as touching the forces and execution thereof, and acknowledged before one of the chief justices, and, in their absence, before the mayor of the stapel and the recorder of London. The statutes referred to by Hamlet are doubtless statutes merchant and statutes staple, and not acts of parliament; because between these statutes and recognizances there exists a reciprocal relation. Statutes staple, statutes merchant, and recognizances, in the nature of a statute staple, are not obsolete. The term fine, as used by Shakespeare in this passage, signified an amicable agreement or composition of a suit, whether real or fictitious, between the defendant and tenant, with the consent of the judges, and enrolled among the records of the court where the suit was commenced, by which lands and tenements were transferred from one person to another, or any other settlement was made respecting them. This assurance was called finis, or finalis concordia, from the words with which it began, and also from its effect, which was to put </p.8><p.9> an end to all suits and contentions. Thus, Glanville says: ‘Et nota quod dicitur talis concordia finalis, eo quod finem imponit negotio, adeo ut neuter ligitantium ab eâ de cetera poterit recedere;’ and Bracton says: ‘Finis est extremitas unius cujusque rei, et ideo dicitur finalis concordia, quia imponit finem litibus.’ A recovery, in its most extensive sense, was a restoration of a former right, by the solemn judgment of a court of justice; and judgment, whether obtained after a real defence made by the tenant, or upon his default, or feint plea, had the same force and efficacy to bind the right of the land so recovered, and to vest a free and absolute estate in fee-simple in the recoveror. A common recovery was a judgment obtained in a fictitious suit, brought against the tenant of the freehold in consequence of a default made by the person who was last vouched by warranty in such suit. The end and effect of this recovery was to disontinue and destroy estates tail, remainders, and reversions, and to bar the former owners thereof, and in this formality three parties were required, namely, the defendant, he that brought the writ of entry, and might be termed the recoverer; the tenant, he against whom the writ was brought, and might be termed the recoveree; and the vouchee, he whom the tenant vouched, or called to warranty for the land in demand. [quotes Cym Act 2, Scene 2, for voucher, and Cor Act 2, Scene 3, for vouches] </p.9><p.10>

“A recovery might be, and was, frequently suffered with double, treble, or further voucher, as the exigency of the case required, in which case there were several judgments against the several vouchees.

“The reader will from this explanation perceive that Shakespeare has used the terms recovery and double voucher not indiscriminately, but in a relative sense, as the mention of one term suggests the idea of the other, with which it is inseparably connected. Fines and recoveries were abolished by the 3rd and 4th William IV., c. 74, which contains provisions enabling tenants in tail to dispose of their estate so as to create a fee-simple absolute, or any less estate. This act received the royal assent on the 28th August, 1883, and came into operation on the 1st January, 1834.

“Shakespeare displays his acquaintance with the custome of conveyancing lawyers in this passage: [quotes 3301-3 The very conueyancees . . .no more] Why should Hamlet compare the grave to a box? Not because there is any resemblance between a box and a grave, but because conveyances and attorneys keep their deeds in wood or in boxes. If the reader, recollecting the explanations that have been made, will take the trouble to dwell a short time on these reflections of Hamlet, he will percieve that the word fine there made use of is intended to signify, not a penalty, but an end. The fine of his fines means the end or termination of his fines. That his fine pate is filled, not with fine dirt, but with the last dirt which will every occupy it, leaving a satirical inference to be drawn, that even in his lifetime his head was filled with </p/10><p.11> dirt. From the follliwng passages it appears that Shakespeare uses the term fne in that sense: [quotes AWW, Act 4, Scene 4, Ado, Act 1, Scene 1, Lucrece, Oth, Act 3, Scene 3, an d Wiv, Act 4, Scene 2, all for fine or some form of this term).” </p.11>

3290 quiddities] Clark & Wright (ed. 1864) : “quiddit ]] sb. a subtle question.”

3291 quillites] Clark & Wright (ed. 1864) : “sb. quidlibet, a subtle case in law.”

3290 quiddities] Clarke (ed. 1864, Glossary)

3291 quillites] Clarke (ed. 1864, Glossary)

3290, 3291 quiddities, quillites] Clarke & Clarke (ed. 1864-68, rpt. 1874-78): “‘Quddits’ are ‘quirks’ or ‘subtle points of question;’ and ‘quillets’ are ‘sophisticated quibbles,’ ‘frivolous distinctions in argument.’ See Note 105, Act iv. [LLL]. ‘Quiddits’ is a contraction of ‘quiddities;’ which word is used by Shakespeare. [1H4 1.3.45 (158)], where Falstaff says to Prince Hal, ‘How now, mad wag! what, in thy quips and thy quiddities?’ It is derived from the low Latin word, quidditas; which was used as a scholastic term to signify the nature or essence of anything, and which, literally rendered, means ‘somethingness.’”

3290 quiddities]

3290-1 quiddities, quillites] Keightley (1867, p. 418): <p. 418>“The first of this is a corruption of the scholastic quidditas, and denotes a subtle distinction; the second is the same as quibble, whence quip, and is a corruption of quidlibet.” </p. 418>

3291 tenurs] Elze (1869, p. 284): <p. 284> “‘Tenures’ undoubtedly stands in the wrong place; it is by no means synonymous with quiddities, cases and tricks, but belongs to the law-terms relative to the acquisition and transfer of property, and should accordingly be inserted, four lines infra, between ‘recognisances’ and ‘fines.’ This suspicion is strongly confirmed by the Quarto of 1603, in however crude a state the passage may be given there. That this edition reads ‘tenements’ instead of ‘tenures’ is of no importance, inasmuch as our concern is only with the position of the word, and in this respect it shows the right way. The passage there runs thus: ‘Where is your quirks and quillets now, your vouchers and double vouchers, your leases and freehold, and tenements?’ K. Elze” </p. 284>

3290, 3291 quiddities, quillites] Tschischwitz (ed. 1869): “quiddites von quidditas, ein bekannter logischer Schulausdruck der Scholastiker, abgeleitet von quid, essentia. Das dazu gehörige quillities, is, wie es scheint, von einem barbarischen quilitas oder quialitas gebildet. Die Lesart der F.5 quiddits und quillets ist nicht verständlich.” [quiddites from quidditas, a well-known logical, scholastic expression from Scholastics, derived from quid, essentia. Moreover, the suitable quillities is, as it seems, formed from a barbaric quilitas or quialitas. The reading of the F 5[[?]] quiddits and quillets is not reasonable.]

3290 quiddities] Clark & Wright (ed. 1872): “So the quartos; the folios have ‘quiddits.’ Either word comes from the scholastic term quidditas, formed like qualitas and quantitas, and means here ‘captious arguments,’ ‘subtleties.’ Compare [IH4 1.2.51 (154): ‘What! in thy quips and thy quiddities?’ And Lyly’s Euphues, p. 138 (ed. Arber); ‘Wherefore it behoueth youth with all industry to search not onely the hard questions of the Philosophers, but also the fine cases of the Lawyers, not only the quirks and quiddities of the Logicians, but also to have a sight in the numbers of the Arithmetricians.’”

3291 quillites] Clark & Wright (ed. 1872): “quillets]] corrupted from quidlibet,as probably is the verb ‘to quibble.’ It means much the same as ‘quiddities.’ Compare [1H6 2.4.17 (946)]: ‘These nice sharp quillets of the law.’”

3290 quiddities]

3291 quillites]

3290 quiddities] [F.J.V.] (1875, 223): <p. 223> “As there seems to be no agreement of philogists about the derivation of the word, perhaps another conjecture is admissible. ‘Quiddit’ is admitted to be from the logical term quiditas, why then should not ‘quillet’ or ‘quilit’ be from another logical term qualitas? We find ‘quilit’ in Every Women in Her Humour, 1603, ‘his tricks and his quilits’; and, again, in a passage from Holland, cited by Nares, s.v. ‘quillet.’ The word may have been thinned into I, to make a [jingle?] with ‘quiddit,’ as in the passage given above from Hamlet. F.J.V.” </p. 223>

3290-3301 where . . . Indentures] Lord Campbell (apud Furness, ed. 1877): “These terms of art are all used seemingly with a full knowledge of their import; and it would puzzle some practising barristers with whom I am acquainted to go over the whole seriatim, and to define each of them satisfactorily.”

3290 quiddities] Nares (apud Furness, ed. 1877): “Quiddits]] “A contraction of quiddity, which is from [Mid. Lat.] viditas, not from quidlibet. It was used, as quiddity also was, for a subtilty, or nice efinment [sic]. Generally applied to the subtilties of lawyers.”

3290 quiddities] Wedgwood (apud Furness, ed. 1877): “Mid. Lat. quiditas, the whatness or distinctive nature of a thing, brought into a by-word by the nice distinction of the schools.”

3290 quillites] Furness (ed. 1877) : “Nares follows Bailey in deriving it from quibblet, a diminuitive of quibble. Douce (I, 231) derives it from quidlibet. But Nares objects to this, that the scholastic phrase was uniformly quodlibet, never quidlibet.”

3290 quillites] Wedgwood (apud Furness, ed. 1877): “Notwithstanding Nares’s objection that the scholastic phrase was quod libet, and not quidlibet, the derivation from this source was probably correct.

3290 quillites] F.J.V. (apud Furness, ed. 1877): “As ‘quiddit’ is from the logical terrm quiditas, why may not ‘quillet’ or ‘quilit’ be from another logical term, qualitas? The word may have been originally qualit, then the a may have been thinned into I to make it jingle with ‘quiddit.’”

[Ed: This is one F.J. V. in Notes & Queries, 18 Sept. 1875.]

3291 tenurs] Furness (ed. 1877) : “Elze (The Athenœum, 20 Feb. 1869) thinks this word has slipped out of place, that it belongs to the law-terms relative to property, and should therefore be inserted between ‘recognizances’ and ‘fines’ in line 99 [3296].”

3290 quiddities]

3291 quillites]

3290 quiddities] Elze (ed. 1882): “Compare Soliman and Perseda (Dodsley, ed. Hazlitt, V, 363): “I am wise, but quiddits will not answer death. Marlow, The Massacre at Paris, I, 8: ‘And ipse dixi with this quiddity.’ Rushton, Shakespeare a Lawyer, p. 7—11).”

3290 quillities] Elze (ed. 1882): “Ram-Alley (Dodsley, ed. Hazlitt, X, 289): ‘Nay, good sir Throate, forbear your quillets now.’”

3291 tenurs] Elze (ed. 1882): “This word has no doubt slipped out of place; it belongs to the law-terms relative to property, and should therefore be inserted between ‘recognisances’ and ‘fines.’ See my Notes, No. XCVIII.”

3290 quiddities]

3290 quillities]

3290 quiddities]

3290 quillities]

3290 quiddities] Barnett (1889, p. 60): <p. 60>“captious arguments, from quidetis.” </p. 60>

3290 quillities] Barnett (1889, p. 60): <p. 60>“sly tricks in argument. From quidlibet.” </p. 60>

3290 quiddities] Symons (in Irving & Marshall, ed. 1890): “Quiddits]] equivocation.”

3291 quillities] Symons (in Irving & Marshall, ed. 1890): “nice distinctions.”

3290 quiddities] Craig (ed. 1891: Glossary): “sub. subtlety, [1H4 1.2.51 (158)].”

3291 quillites] Craig (ed. 1891: Glossary): “quillets]] sub. cavilling, chicancery [1H6 2.4.27 (946); Tim. 4.3.156 (1771)].”

3290 quiddities] Dowden (ed. 1899):

3291 quillites]

3290 quiddities]

3291 quillites]

3290 quiddities] Neilson (ed. 1906, Glossary, quiddity)

3291 quillites] Neilson (ed. 1906, Glossary, quillet)

3290 quiddities]

3291 quillites]

3291 tenurs]

3290-91quiddities, quillites] Wilson (1934, 2:265) quiddities, quillites CAP, JEN

3290-91quiddities, quillites] Wilson (1934, 2:268): <p. 268> “A flagrant, if harmless, case of conflation is furnished by the treatment of [3290-1) in modern editions. The Q2 words ‘quiddities . . . quillities’ (an ‘I’ has clearly been omitted by its compositor) are well attested forms. Yet Capell and Jennens alone have followed both, most editors for some unexplained reason preferring the F1 ‘quillets’ to ‘quillities’ and so reading ‘quiddities . . . quillets’.” </p. 268>

3290 quiddities] Ridley (ed. 1934, Glossary)

3291 quillites] Ridley (ed. 1934, Glossary, quillets):

3290 quiddities] Wilson (ed. 1934, Glossary, quiddity)

3291 quillites] Wilson (ed. 1934, Glossary, quillity)

3290 quiddities]

3290 quiddities] Kittredge (ed. 1939, Glossary):

3291 tenurs]

3291 tenurs] Kittredge (ed. 1936, Glossary):

3291 quillites] Kittredge (ed. 1936, Glossary):

3291 quillites] Kittredge (ed. 1936): “quibbles, subtle distinctions. Cf. Mabbe, Celestina (ed. Tudor Translations, p. 69): ‘some quillet or quirke of Law.’”

3290 quiddities]

3291 quillites]

3290 quiddities]

3291 quillites]

3290 quiddities]

3291 quillites]

3290 quiddities]

3291 quillites]

3290 quiddities] Alexander (ed. 1951, Glossary, quillet)

3290 quiddities] 3291 tenurs] Craig (ed. 1951): “the holding of a piece of property or office or the conditions or period of such holding.”

3291 quillites] Craig (ed. 1954, Glossary)

3290 quiddities] Sisson (ed. 1954, Glossary):

3291 quillites] Sisson (ed. 1954, Glossary, quillet):

3290 quiddities]

3291 quillites]

3291 tenurs]

3290 quiddities]

3291 quillites]

3291 tenurs]

3290 quiddities]

3291 quillites]

3291 tenurs]

3290 quiddities]

3291 quillites]

3291 tenurs]

3290 where be] Jenkins (ed. 1982): “The traditional Ubi suntmotif, as at [3377].”

3290-1 quiddities . . . quillites] Jenkins (ed. 1982): “[LLL 4.3.280-4 (1637)] calls for ‘some tricks, some quillets’ to ‘prove Our loving lawful, and our faith not torn’.”

3291 tenurs]

3290-1 quiddities . . . quillites]

3291 tenurs] Wilkes (ed. 1984): "cases depending on the law of tenure."

3290-91quiddities, quillites] Edwards (ed. 1985): “One would expect a like-sounding pair, either quiddits/quillets, or quiddities/quilleties. F’s quiddits could be the true reading.”

3291 tenurs]

3290-91quiddities, quillites]

3291 tenurs]

3290-91quiddities, quillites]

3291 tenurs]

3290-91quiddities, quillites] Andrews (ed. 1989): “Hamlet notes that none of the Lawyer’s tricks will be of any use to him in the court of last resort presided over by the Gravedigger.”

3291 tenurs]

3290 quiddities] quiddity 2. A subtlety or captious nicety in argument; a quirk, quibble. (Alluding to scholastic arguments on the `quiddity’ of things.) 1539 TAVERNER Gard. Wysed. I. 18 b, [He] must nat playe with hys sophemes and quyddities. 1579 FULKE Heskins’ Parl. 475 Hee saith hee will not vse the quiddities of the schooles, but plaine examples.[etc.]

3290 quillites]OED A verbal nicety or subtle distinction; a quirk, quibble. 1588 SHAKS. L.L.L. IV. iii. 288 Some tricks, some quillets, how to cheat the diuell. 1609 HOLLAND Amm. Marcell. XXX. iv. 386 Linking and entangling causes with insoluble quirkes and quilits. [etc.]

3291 tenurs b. gen. and fig. The action or fact of holding anything material or non-material; hold upon something; maintaining a hold; occupation. 1599 B. JONSON Cynthia’s Rev. V. iv, Lady, vouchsafe the tenure of this ensigne. [etc.]