trivium

[ triv-ee-uhm ]

noun

1. (during the Middle Ages) the lower division of the seven liberal arts, comprising grammar, rhetoric, and logic.

trivium

/ ˈtrɪvɪəm /

noun

1. (in medieval learning) the lower division of the seven liberal arts, consisting of grammar, rhetoric, and logic Compare quadrivium

Word History and Origins

Origin of trivium¹

1795–1805; < Medieval Latin, special use of Latin trivium public place, literally, place where three roads meet. See trivial

Word History and Origins

Origin of trivium¹

C19: from Medieval Latin, from Latin: crossroads; see trivial

Example Sentences

Apple frames these disciplines as modern equivalents to the Medieval trivium — an essential educational resource that makes a person a person.

From The Verge

The grammar school curriculum consisted of grammar, logic, and rhetoric—a three-part system of knowledge called “the trivium” that was regarded as the foundation of learning.

From Literature

Progress in wisdom was to be obtained, so far as secular knowledge was concerned, by the “seven ascents of theoretical discipline,” i.e. the trivium and the quadrivium.

From Project Gutenberg

He doubted "that the curriculum of any modern university shows so clear and generous a comprehension of what is meant by culture as this old trivium and quadrivium did."

From Project Gutenberg

Here, he taught the trivium and quadrivium—grammar, rhetoric, dialectic, and arithmetic, music, geometry, and astronomy—the seven arts.

From Project Gutenberg