‖ quadrivium
(kwəˈdrɪvɪəm)
[L. (f. quadri- quadri- + via way), a place where four ways meet; in late L., the four branches of mathematics (Boethius).]
In the Middle Ages, the higher division of the seven liberal arts, comprising the mathematical sciences (arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and music).
| 1804 Rankin Hist. France III. iv. 308 Arithmetic, music, geometry, and astronomy formed Quadrivium. 1842 Mrs. Browning Grk. Chr. Poets (1863) 123 The trivium and quadrivium of the schools. 1872 Lowell Dante Pr. Wks. 1890 IV. 124 There can be no doubt that he went through the trivium..and the quadrivium..of the then ordinary university course. |