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quitter

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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From Middle English quitter, from Anglo-Norman quiture, quyture et al., specialised use of quiture (burn mark, burning), from the participle stem of cuire (to cook), or from Latin coctura (cooking).

Alternative forms

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Noun

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quitter (uncountable)

  1. (now rare outside Jamaica) Matter flowing from a wound or sore; pus.
    • 1395, John Wycliffe, Bible, Job II:
      Therfor Sathan [...] smoot Joob with a ful wickid botche fro the sole of the foot til to his top; which Joob schauyde the quytere with a schelle, and sat in the dunghil.
  2. (farriery) Alternative spelling of quittor (fistulous wound at the top of a horse's foot)
  3. (obsolete) Scoria of tin.

Verb

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quitter (third-person singular simple present quitters, present participle quittering, simple past and past participle quittered)

  1. To suppurate; ooze with pus.

Etymology 2

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From quit +‎ -er.

Noun

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quitter (plural quitters)

  1. One who quits, as:
    1. One who gives in.
      Synonym: (humorous) giver-upper
      Winners never quit and quitters never win.
      Don't be a quitter — hang in there!
      • 1974 August 8, Richard Nixon, 2:00 from the start, in Richard Nixon's resignation speech[1], CBSN:
        I have never been a quitter. To leave office before my term is completed is abhorrent to every instinct in my body. But as president, I must put the interests of America first.
      • 2001, Peter Mandelson, 4:14 from the start, in 2001 victory speech[2], ITV:
        Well, they underestimated Hartlepool, and they underestimated me because I am a fighter and not a quitter!
    2. One who succeeds in desisting from a vice, especially smoking, drinking, or drugging.
      Hypernym: ever-smoker
      Coordinate term: never-smoker
      Quitters are winners! If you can't quit on the first try, hang in there and try to quit again!
  2. (archaic) A leaver.
  3. (obsolete) A deliverer.
Derived terms
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Translations
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French

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Etymology

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From quitte +‎ -er, or from Late Latin quietare (acquit, discharge, release), from Latin quiētāre (to calm).

Pronunciation

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Verb

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quitter

  1. (transitive, law or obsolete) to discharge somebody from an obligation
  2. (transitive, of a place) to leave, to quit
  3. (transitive, of a person) to part with somebody, to leave somebody

Conjugation

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Derived terms

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Further reading

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Middle French

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Etymology

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Old French quitter.

Verb

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quitter

  1. to release from an obligation; to forgive (a debt)
  2. to liberate; to free
  3. to pardon
  4. to leave

Conjugation

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  • Middle French conjugation varies from one text to another. Hence, the following conjugation should be considered as typical, not as exhaustive.

Descendants

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  • French: quitter

References

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  • quitter on Dictionnaire du Moyen Français (1330–1500) (in French)
  • Godefroy, Frédéric, Dictionnaire de l’ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IXe au XVe siècle (1881) (quitter, supplement)

Old French

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Etymology

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From Medieval Latin quiētus (at rest).

Verb

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quitter

  1. to liberate; to free

Conjugation

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This verb conjugates as a first-group verb ending in -er. The forms that would normally end in *-tt, *-tts, *-ttt are modified to t, z, t. Old French conjugation varies significantly by date and by region. The following conjugation should be treated as a guide.

Descendants

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References

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