English

Noun

trivium ‎(plural trivia)

1. (in medieval universities) The lower division of the liberal arts; grammar, logic and rhetoric.
2. (zoology) The three anterior ambulacra of echinoderms, collectively.

Related terms

• trivialis
• quadrivium

Derived terms

• trivia
• trivial

Latin

Etymology

From tri- ‎(“three”) +‎ via ‎(“road”). Compare trivius, epithet of deities having temples at the intersection of three roads.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈtri.wi.um/, [ˈtrɪ.wi.ũ]

Noun

trivium n ‎(genitive triviī); second declension

1. a crossroads or fork where three roads meet
2. (Medieval Latin) trivium
3. accusative singular of trivium
4. vocative singular of trivium

Inflection

Second declension.

Adjective

trivium

1. nominative neuter singular of trivius
2. accusative masculine singular of trivius
3. accusative neuter singular of trivius
4. vocative neuter singular of trivius

References

• trivium in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• trivium in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• TRIVIUM in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)
• Félix Gaffiot (1934), “trivium”, in Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Paris: Hachette.
• Meissner, Carl; Auden, Henry William (1894) Latin Phrase-Book, London: Macmillan and Co.
  • Hercules at the cross-roads, between virtue and vice: Hercules in trivio, in bivio, in compitis
    
• trivium in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898) Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers