Shu was telling me about the word trivia the other day, but I can't seem to verify his story. He said it comes from a Latin word meaning a place where three places meet, and the OED confirms that. However, he said that trivia evolved because of the gossip (trivia) that was shared at the inns or places to stay at these intersections. The OED doesn't say that.
I'd always heard that it originated in a work by Martianus Capella (link). The three part had to do with the three things being taught: grammar, logic, and rhetoric. Three ways to knowledge? I'm not saying that's the way it has to be (and knowing Shu that's probably the best course [no pun intended] here). I'm guessing it's a case of way (Latin via) meaning manner as in three ways to knowledge.
The trivium that zmj mentions was followed at university by the quadrivium (arithmetic, geometry, grammar, and logic). Since the trivium was considered easier, it was considered less importatnt.
The Word Detective has an article which debunks Shu's story.
Build a man a fire and he's warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life.
Didn't they all overlap in the concept of music of the spheres?
Probably. Musica is similar in construction to magica: i.e., 'of or pertaining to the Muses' and 'of or pertaining to the Mages'. What we call music of the spheres was in Latin musica universalis 'universal music'. A good deal of the (astronomy) curriculum was tied up with being able to calculate when Easter occurred.
[Fixed typos.]This message has been edited. Last edited by: zmježd,
I've not seen any evidence for the other etymology either. From literature? Archaeological? Both trivius and quadrivius are adjectives in Latin meaning roughly 'at or of the crossroads; common, vulgar'. The words most often occur as the epithet of gods or qualifying the generic dii 'gods' in reference to the tutelary gods of the crossroads.
