quoit meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

quoit

noun

UK /kɔɪt/ · US /kɔɪt/

Etymology From Middle English coyte (“flat stone”), from Old French coite, from Latin culcita. Doublet of quilt.

A flat disc of metal or stone thrown at a target in the game of quoits.

He heard then a warm heavy sigh, softer, as she turned over and the loose brass quoits of the bedstead jingled. Must get those settled really.1922 February, James Joyce, “[Episode 4: Calypso]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company, […], →OCLC, part II [Odyssey], page 54:

A ring of rubber or rope similarly used in the game of deck-quoits.

The flat stone covering a cromlech.

This quoit was brought from a karn about a furlong distance, near which is another cromlech, not so large.1817, Charles Sandoe Gilbert, A Historical Survey of the County of Cornwall, page 175:

An ancient burial mound, synonymous with dolmen.

The discus used in ancient sports.

verb

Etymology From Middle English coyte (“flat stone”), from Old French coite, from Latin culcita. Doublet of quilt.

To play quoits.

Then, to preſerve the Fame of ſuch a deed, / For Python ſlain, he [Phoebus or Apollo] Pythian Games decreed. / Where Noble Youths for Maſterſhip ſhou'd ſtrive, / To Quoit, to Run, and Steeds and Chariots drive.1717, John Dryden, “Book I”, in Ovid’s Metamorphoses in Fifteen Books. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, page 20:

To throw like a quoit.

Each took / His ſtation, and Epeüs ſeized the clod. / He ſwung, he caſt it, and the Greecians laugh'd. / Leonteus, branch of Mars, quoited it next.1791, Homer, “[The Iliad.] Book XXIII.”, in W[illiam] Cowper, transl., The Iliad and Odyssey of Homer, Translated into Blank Verse, […], volume I, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], →OCLC, page 630, lines 1038–1041:

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.