quadrivium
Noun
Meaning
The four "liberal arts," arithmetic, music, geometry, and astronomy; -- so called by the schoolmen. See Trivium.
Source: Webster's dictionarySynonyms
Hypernyms
Phrases with the word
Examples
By the time of the medieval university system, knowledge was divided into the trivium —philosophy, including natural philosophy —and the quadrivium —mathematics, including astronomy.
In turn, the quadrivium was considered preparatory work for the serious study of philosophy (sometimes called the "liberal art par excellence") Daniel Coit Gilman et al.
Morris Kline classifies the four elements of the quadrivium as pure (arithmetic), stationary (geometry), moving (astronomy) and applied (music) number.
He did not study any subjects beyond the trivium and quadrivium at these schools.
The term emphasizes the more spontaneous, less structured learning environment where a child's interests drive their pursuit of knowledge. citation In some cases, a liberal arts education is provided using the trivium and quadrivium as the main models.
Together, the trivium and the quadrivium comprised the seven liberal arts (based on thinking skills), citation as opposed to the practical arts (such as medicine and architecture ).