quit
verbEtymology From Middle English quiten, quyten, from Anglo-Norman quitter, Old French quitter, from quitte (“acquitted, quit”), ultimately from Latin quietus, which itself derives from Proto-Indo-European *kʷyéh₁-ti-s, from *kʷyeh₁- (“to rest”). Doublet of coy, quite, quiet, and quietus. Compare Dutch kwijten (“to quit”), German Low German quitten (“to quit”), German quitten, quittieren, Danish kvitte, Swedish qvitta, kvitta (“to quit, leave, set off”), Icelandic kvitta.
12 senses
- 1To leave (a place).
- 2To set at rest; to free, as from anything harmful or…
- 3To release from obligation, accusation, penalty, etc.…
- 4To abandon, renounce (a thing).
- 5To resign from (a job, office, position, etc.).
- 6To stop, give up (an activity).
- 7To close (an application).
- 8To pay (a debt, fine etc.).
- 9To conduct or acquit (oneself); to behave (in a specified way).
- 10To carry through; to go through to the end.
- 11To repay, pay back (a good deed, injury etc.).
- 12To repay (someone) for (something).
1
To leave (a place).
- The British quit India in the 1940s.
- Jones had no sooner quitted the room, than the petty-fogger, in a whispering tone, asked Mrs Whitefield, “If she knew who that fine spark was?”1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC:
4 more examples
- He quitted the lake on the 23rd of September, and on the 4th of October arrived at Queenstown, on the shores of Lake Wakatipu, having succeded in finding a transitable route.1865, Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society, page 33:
- ... to cause the tenants to quit and give the plaintiff possession of the cottages, &c., ...1865, Great Britain. Courts, Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the English Courts of Common Law: With Tables of the Cases and Principal Matters, page 635:
- The lions, if they left not the forest, would capture no prey; and the arrow, if it quitted not the bow, would not strike the mark.1912, Edward Stanley Poole, transl., The Thousand and One Nights:
- At Malta the chief engineer of the ship, who always had been a good friend of mine, urged me to quit the sea; "otherwise," he said, "if you stay too long, you may, like myself, be condemned to wander about the world all your life and see your home only occasionally."1943 January and February, Chas. S. Lake, “Some C.M.Es. I Have Known: IV—H. A. Ivatt”, in Railway Magazine, page 32:
2
To set at rest; to free, as from anything harmful or oppressive; to relieve; to clear; to liberate.
- To quit you […] of this fear, […]you have already lookt Death in the face; what have you found so terrible in it?1688, William Wake, Preparation for Death:
3
To release from obligation, accusation, penalty, etc.; to absolve; to acquit.
- God will relent, and quit thee all his debt;1671, John Milton, “Samson Agonistes, […].”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for John Starkey […], →OCLC, page 36, line 510:
4
To abandon, renounce (a thing).
5
Ambitransitive To resign from (a job, office, position, etc.).
- After having to work overtime without being paid, I quit my job.
6
Ambitransitive To stop, give up (an activity).
- John is planning to quit smoking.
7
Computing, Engineering, Mathematics, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Sciences To close (an application).
8
Archaic To pay (a debt, fine etc.).
- Edmund, enkindle all the sparkes of Nature To quit this horrid acte.1605, William Shakespeare, (Please provide the book title or journal name):
- that judge that quits each soul his hire1600, [Torquato Tasso], “(please specify |book=1 to 20)”, in Edward Fairefax [i.e., Edward Fairfax], transl., Godfrey of Bulloigne, or The Recouerie of Ierusalem. […], London: […] Ar[nold] Hatfield, for I[saac] Iaggard and M[atthew] Lownes, →OCLC:
9
Archaic To conduct or acquit (oneself); to behave (in a specified way).
- Be strong and quit yourselves like men, O ye Philistines, that ye be not servants unto the Hebrews, as they have been to you: quit yourselves like men, and fight.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 1 Samuel 4:9:
- Samſon hath quit himſelf Like Samſon,1671, John Milton, “Samson Agonistes, […].”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for John Starkey […], →OCLC, page 98, lines 1710–1711:
10
Archaic To carry through; to go through to the end.
- Never worthy prince a day did quit With greater hazard and with more renown.1595–1609, Samuel Daniel, Civil Wars:
11
Obsolete To repay, pay back (a good deed, injury etc.).
- Vnthankfull wretch (said he) is this the meed, With which her soueraigne mercy thou doest quight?1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto V”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:
- Forgive me, Rogero: 'tis my fate To love thy friend and quit thy love with hate.1613, John Marston, William Barksted, The Insatiate Countess, III.2:
12
Obsolete To repay (someone) for (something).
- I was but late att a Iustynge and there I Iusted with a knyghte that is broder vnto kynge Pellam and twyes smote I hym doune & thenne he promysed to quyte me on my best frynde and so he wounded my sone that can not be hole tyll I haue of that knyghtes blood1485, Sir Thomas Malory, chapter XIV, in Le Morte Darthur, book II:
- But if that I knewe what his name hight, For clatering of me I would him ſone quight; For his falſe lying, of that I ſpake never, I could make him ſhortly repent him forever:[…]1515–c. 1516, John Skelton, Againſt venemous tongues enpoyſoned with ſclaunder and falſe detractions &c., published 1568:
- Synonyms
- call it quits, conclude, finish, quit
- Derived terms
- coquit, don't quit your day job, force quit, hit it and quit it, quiet quit, quit buddy, quitclaim, quit claim deed, quitline, quit lit, quitrent, quits, quit scores, quitsies, quittable, quittal, quitter, quit the oxygen habit, quit while one is ahead, ragequit, rage quit, unquit