A word derived from the Latin roots tri- (three) and via (ways, roads), therefore a crossing of three roads. In medieval universities, the trivium consisted of the three subjects in the lower division of the seven liberal arts: grammar, rhetoric, and logic. The word trivial derives from the fact that the trivium contained the least complicated studies.
Trivium
See also
Quadrivium, TrivialExplore with Wolfram|Alpha
Cite this as:
Weisstein, Eric W. "Trivium." From MathWorld--A Wolfram Web Resource. https://mathworld.wolfram.com/Trivium.html