quittance

English

Etymology

From Middle English quitaunce, (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Old French quitance, (deprecated template usage) [etyl] French quittance

Noun

quittance (plural quittances)

1. A release or acquittal.
2. A discharge from a debt or obligation; a document that shows this discharge.
   • c. 1599, William Shakespeare, As You Like It, Act III, Scene 5,^[1]

     I marvel why I answer’d not again;

     But that’s all one: omittance is no quittance.

3. (obsolete) Recompense; return; repayment.
   • 1594, Christopher Marlowe, Edward II, London: William Jones,^[2]

     Qu[een]. Ah Mortimer! now breaks the kings hate forth,

     And he confesseth that he loues me not.

     Mor[timer] iu[nior]. Crie quittance Madam then, & loue not him.

   • c. 1607, William Shakespeare, Timon of Athens, Act I, Scene 1,^[3]

     […] Plutus, the god of gold,

     Is but his steward: no meed but he repays

     Sevenfold above itself; no gift to him

     But breeds the giver a return exceeding

     All use of quittance.

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French

Etymology

From quitter (“to make quits”) +‎ -ance, from quitte (“quits”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ki.tɑ̃s/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

quittance f (plural quittances)

1. a receipt, a quittance

Descendants

• → Italian: quietanza

See also

• acquitter

Further reading

• “quittance”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.