quit

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See also quít, and quît

Contents

English[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

From Anglo-Norman quiter, Old French quiter, from quite (“acquited, quit”), ultimately from Latin quietus.

Verb[edit]

quit (third-person singular simple present quits, present participle quitting, simple past and past participle quit or quitted)

  1. (transitive, archaic) To pay (a debt, fine etc.).
  2. (transitive, obsolete) To repay (someone) for (something).
    • 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, Le Morte Darthur, Book II:
      twyes smote I hym doune, & thenne he promysed to quyte me on my best frynde, and so he wounded my sone [...].
  3. (transitive, obsolete) To repay, pay back (a good deed, injury etc.).
    • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, III.v:
      Vnthankfull wretch (said he) is this the meed, / With which her soueraigne mercy thou doest quight?
  4. (reflexive, archaic) To conduct oneself, acquit oneself, to behave (in a specified way).
  5. (transitive) To abandon, renounce (a thing).
  6. (transitive) To leave (a place).
  7. (transitive, intransitive) To resign from (a job, office, position, etc.).
    After having to work overtime without being paid, I quit my job.
  8. (transitive, intransitive) To stop, give up (an activity) (usually + gerund or verbal noun).
    John is planning to quit smoking.
  9. (transitive, computing) To close (an application).
  10. simple past tense and past participle of quit
Derived terms[edit]
Quotations[edit]
Usage notes[edit]
  • The past tense of quit is now quit for most speakers and writers; dictionaries usually allow quitted as an alternative, but it is rare or nonexistent in North America and Australia, and outnumbered by quit by about 16 to 1 in the British National Corpus. Quitted is more commonly used to mean "left". ie. She quitted her job.
References[edit]

Pam Peters, The Cambridge Guide to English Usage, Cambridge University Press, p. 453.

Translations[edit]
to leave
to give up, stop doing something
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Translations to be checked

Etymology 2[edit]

Noun[edit]

quit (plural quits)

  1. Any of numerous species of small passerine birds native to tropical America.
Derived terms[edit]
Related terms[edit]

French[edit]

Verb[edit]

quit

  1. third-person singular past historic of quérir

Latin[edit]

Verb[edit]

quit

  1. third-person singular present active indicative of queō
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