Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary

QUIT — QUOTIENT

QUIT, v.t. pret. and pp. quit or quitted. [L. cedo. The sense of quit is to leave, to withdraw from; but the primary sense of the root must have been to move or to send; for to requite is to send back.]

1. To leave; to depart from, either temporarily or forever. It does not necessarily include the idea of abandoning, without a qualifying word. A man quits his house for an hour, or for a month. He quits his native country on a voyage or he quits it forever; he quits an employment with the intention of resuming it.

2. To free; to clear; to liberate; to discharge from.

To quit you of this fear, you have already looked death in the face. [Nearly obsolete.]

3. To carry through; to do or perform something to the end, so that nothing remains; to discharge or perform completely.

Never a worthy prince a day did quit with greater hazard and with more renown.

4. To quit one’s self, reciprocally, to clear one’s self of incumbent duties by full performance.

Samson hath quit himself like Samson.

In this sense, acquit is generally used.

5. To repay; to requite.

- Enkindle all the sparks of nature to quit this horrid act.

In this sense, quit is now rarely used. We use requite.

6. To vacate obligation; to release; to free from

Dangers of law, actions, decrees, judgments against us quitted.

7. To pay; to discharge; hence, to free from; as, to quit the debt of gratitude.

8. To set free; to release; to absolve; to acquit.

Guiltless I quit, guilty I set them free. In this sense, acquit is now used.

9. To leave; to give up; to resign; to relinquish; as, to quit an office.

10. To pay.

Before that judge that quits each soul his hire. [Not used.]

11. To forsake; to abandon.

Such a superficial way of examining is to quit truth for appearance.

To quit cost, to pay; to free from by an equivalent; to reimburse; as, the cultivation of barren land will not always quit cost.

To quit scores, to make even; to clear mutually from demands by mutual equivalents given. We will quit scores [marks of charges] before we part.

Does not the earth quit scores with all the elements in her noble fruits?

QUIT, a. Free; clear; discharged from; absolved.

The owner of the ox shall be quit. Exodus 21:28. [This word, though primarily a participle, and never placed before its noun, has properly the sense of an adjective.]

Qui tam, [L.] A qui tam action, in law, is a popular action, in which a man prosecutes an offender for the king or state, as well as for himself.

QUITCH-GRASS, n. [properly quick-grass, probably from its vigorous growth, or the difficulty of eradicating it.]

Dog-grass; a species of grass which roots deeply and is not easily killed.

QUITCLAIM, v.t. [quit and claim.] To release a claim by deed without covenants of warranty; to convey to another who hath some right in lands or tenements, all one’s right, title and interest in the estate, by relinquishing all claim to them. The words used in the instrument are, “A hath remised, released and forever quitclaimed all his right, title and interest to a certain estate.”

QUITCLAIM, n. A deed of release; an instrument by which all claims to an estate are relinquished to another without any covenant or warranty, express or implied.

QUITCLAIMED, pp. Released by deed.

QUITCLAIMING, pp. Conveying by deed of release.

QUITE, adv. [from quit; that is, primarily, free or clear by complete performance.]

Completely; wholly; entirely; totally; perfectly. The work is not quite done; the object is quite accomplished.

He hath sold us and quite devoured also our money. Genesis 31:15.

The same actions may be aimed at different ends, and arise from quite contrary principles.

QUIT-RENT, n. [L. quietus reditus.] A rent reserved in grants of land, by the payment of which the tenant is quieted or quit from all other service.

QUITS, adv. [from quit.] An exclamation used when mutual demands are adjusted and the parties are even, each quit of the other.

QUITTAL, n. Return; repayment.

QUITTANCE, n.

1. Discharge from a debt or obligation; an acquittance. [See Acquittance, which is chiefly used.]

2. Recompense; return; repayment.

QUITTANCE, v.t. To repay. [Not in use.]

QUITTED, pp. Left; relinquished; acquitted.

QUITTER, n.

1. One who quits.

2. A deliverer. [Not in use.]

3. Scoria of tin.

QUITTER-BONE, n. In farriery, a hard round swelling on the coronet, between the heel and the quarter, usually on the inside of the foot.

QUIVER, n.

A case or sheath for arrows.

Take the quiver and thy bow. Genesis 27:3.

QUIVER, a. Nimble; active. [Not in use.]

QUIVER, v.i.

1. To shake or tremble; to quake; to shudder; to shiver. This word expresses that tremulous motion of the body which proceeds from loss of heat or vigor. Thus persons quiver with fear or with cold.

He quiver’d with his feet and lay for dead.

And left the limbs still quiv’ring on the ground.

2. To play or be agitated with a tremulous motion.

The green leaves quiver with the cooling wind.

The lakes that quiver to the curling breeze.

QUIVERED, a. [from the noun quiver.]

1. Furnished with a quiver; as the quivered nymph.

2. Sheathed as in a quiver.

- Whose quills stand quivered at his ear.

QUIVERING, ppr. Trembling, as with cold or fear; moving with a tremulous agitation.

QUIVERING, n. The act of shaking or trembling; agitation; as, to be seized with a quivering.

QUIXOTIC, a. Like Don Quixote; romantic to extravagance.

QUIXOTISM, n. Romantic and absurd notions; schemes or actions like those of Don Quixote, the hero of Cervantes.

QUIZ, n. An enigma; a riddle or obscure question.

QUIZ, v.t. To puzzle. [A popular, but not an elegant word.]

Quo Warranto, in Law Latin, a writ brought before a proper tribunal, to inquire by what warrant a person or corporation exercises certain powers.

QUOB, v.i. To move, as the fetus in utero; to throb. [Local, vulgar, and little used.]

QUODLIBET, n. [L. what you please.] A nice point; a subtilty.

QUODLIBETARIAN, n. One who talks and disputes on any subject at pleasure.

QUODLIBETICAL, a. Not restrained to a particular subject; moved or discussed at pleasure for curiosity or entertainment.

QUODLIBETICALLY, adv. At pleasure; for curiosity; so as to be debated for entertainment.

QUOIF, n. A cap or hood. [See Coif.]

QUOIF, v.t. To cover or dress with a coif. [This word may be discarded with advantage.]

QUOIFFURE, n. A head dress.

QUOIL. [See Coil, the better word.]

QUOIN, n. [See Coin.]

1. A corner.

2. An instrument to raise any thing; a wedge employed to raise cannon to a proper level, and for other purposes.

3. In architecture, the corner of a brick or stone wall.

QUOIT, n.

1. A kind of horse shoe to be pitched or thrown at a fixed object in play. In common practice, a plain flat stone is used for this purpose.

2. In some authors, the discus of the ancients, thrown in trials of strength.

QUOIT, v.i. To throw quoits; to play at quoits.

QUOIT, v.t. To throw. [Not used.]

QUOLL, n. An animal of New Holland, resembling the polecat.

QUONDAM, used adjectively. [L.] Having been formerly; former; as a quondam king or friend.

QUOOK, pret. of quake. Obs.

QUORUM, n. [L. gen. plu. of qui, who.]

1. A bench of justices, or such a number of officers or members as is competent by law or constitution to transact business; as a quorum of the house of representatives. A constitutional quorum was not present.

2. A special commission of justices.

QUOTA, n. [L. quotus.]

A just part or share; or the share, part or proportion assigned to each. Each state was ordered to furnish its quota of troops.

QUOTATION, n. [from quote.]

1. The act of quoting or citing.

2. The passage quoted or cited; the part of a book or writing named, repeated or adduced as evidence or illustration.

3. In mercantile language, the naming of the price of commodities; or the price specified to a correspondent.

4. Quota; share. [Not used.]

QUOTE, v.t.

1. To cite, as a passage from some author; to name, repeat or adduce a passage from an author or speaker, by way of authority or illustration; as, to quote a passage from Homer; to quote the words of Peter, or a passage of Paul’s writings; to quote chapter and verse.

2. In commerce, to name, as the price of an article.

3. To note.

QUOTE, n. A note upon an author. Obs.

QUOTED, pp. Cited; adduced; named.

QUOTER, n. One that cites the words of an author or speaker.

QUOTH, v.i. [L. inquio, contracted.]

To say; to speak. This verb is defective, being used only in the first and third persons in the present and past tenses, as quoth I, quoth he, and the nominative always follows the verb. It is used only in ludicrous language, and has no variation for person, number or tense.

QUOTIDIAN, a. [L. quotidianus; quotus and dies.] Daily; occurring or returning daily; as a quotidian fever.

QUOTIDIAN, n.

1. A fever whose paroxysms return every day.

2. Any thing returning daily.

QUOTIENT, n. [L. quoties, how often.]

In arithmetic, the number resulting from the division of one number by another, and showing how often a less number is contained in a greater. Thus 12/3 = 4. Here 4 is the quotient, showing that 3 is contained 4 times in 12. Or quotient is an expression denoting a certain part of a unit; as 3/4.