quodlibet

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The Word of the Day for July 23 is:

quodlibet   \KWAHD-luh-bet\   noun
     1 : a philosophical or theological point proposed for 
disputation; also : a disputation on such a point
   *2 : a whimsical combination of familiar melodies or texts 

Example sentence:
     The concert ended with a quodlibet of 20th-century music 
that ranged from Aaron Copland's "Hoedown" to Stravinsky's "Rite 
of Spring."

Did you know?
     Whatever. Try to get philosophical nowadays and that may be 
the response you hear. Someone quibbling over a minor 
philosophical or theological point 500 years ago might have 
gotten basically the same reaction, but in Latin. At least it 
seems that way, since the Latin "quodlibet," meaning "any 
whatever," was the name given to such academic 
debates. "Quodlibet" is a form of "quilibet," from "qui," 
meaning "what," and "libet," meaning "it pleases." We can't say 
with certainty how "quodlibet" went from disputations to musical 
conglomerations, but English speakers have been using "quodlibet"
for light musical melanges since the mid-19th century.

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.