Etymology Abbreviation of quadrangle; originally (17th century) referring to the quadrangles of Newgate Prison, London.
1
A quadrangle or court, as of a prison; a prison.
1863, Punch, quoted in 1995, Seán McConville, English Local Prisons, 1860-1900: Next Only to Death, page 69, […] not the poorer classes merely, but the rich will be desirous to enjoy the mingled luxury and comfort of a gaol: and we shall hear of blasé Swells become burglars and garotters as a prelude to a prison, and, instead of taking tours for restoration of their health, recruiting it more cheaply by a residence in quod.
[…]and declined their escort, desiring to be conducted to “quod” by the gallant South Australian police,[…].1878, John Wrathall Bull, Early Experiences of Colonial Life in South Australia, page 264:
2 more examples
From 1855-1903 a chapel was built, the boat shed and holding cell constructed, Government House was constructed as a summer residence for the Governor and the Quod (slang for prison) was constructed.2000, R.I.C. Publications, Workbook E: Society and Environment, page 48:
Pity McNamara′s still doing his stretch in the quod, but he′ll be out soon.2006, Pip Wilson, Faces in the Street: Louisa and Henry Lawson and the Castlereagh Street Push, page 202:
c. 1894, Acquaintance of Norman Lindsay, quoted in 2005, James Cockington, Banned: Tales From the Bizarre History of Australian Obscenity, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, paperback →ISBN, page 7, I don′t suppose you'll get more than a couple of months′ quod for them.
quod
verb
Etymology Abbreviation of quadrangle; originally (17th century) referring to the quadrangles of Newgate Prison, London.
An intelligent costermonger, who was with me when I saw the two brothers, told me that “a costermonger would rather be thought to have come out of prison than out of a workhouse,” for his “mates” would say, if they heard he had been locked up, “O, he’s only been quodded for pitching into a crusher.”1851, Henry Mayhew, London Labour and the London Poor, published 1861:
“Why,” quod her friend, “would ye not willingly have gone with your company, if God should so have suffered it?”1563, John Foxe, “Actes and Monuments”, in The Church Historians of England: Reformation Period, published 1868, Volume 8, Part 1, page 422:
“And therefore I have granted to their request,” quod the King;[…].1908, James Gairdner, Lollardy and the Reformation in England: An Historical Survey, Cambridge University Press, published 2010, page 416: