The verb is derived from Middle English requiten (“to repay”), and then partly from both of the following: * From re- (prefix meaning ‘again; back, backward’) + quiten (“to pay, pay for; to repay; to acquit (someone of a charge), exonerate; to prove (oneself) innocent; to answer, reply; to atone for (a sin); to compensate, make amends; to depart, leave; to equal, match; to fulfil (an obligation); to give back, return; to give up, relinquish; to release, set free; to render (a service); to reward; to give retribution, take revenge”) (from Old French quitter (“to free, liberate”) (modern French quitter), from quitte (“free, liberated”) + -er (suffix forming verbs)). Quitte is derived from Latin quiētus (“at rest; quiet”), the perfect passive participle of quiēscō (“to repose, rest; to sleep; to be quiet or still”), from quiēs (“rest, repose; sleep; calm, peace, quiet”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kʷyeh₁- (“to rest; peace, rest”)) + -scō (suffix forming verbs with the sense ‘to begin to do [something]’). * From Old French requiter, requitter (“to free or liberate again”), from re- (prefix meaning ‘again’) + quitter (see above). The noun is derived from the verb.
To repay (a debt owed); specifically, to recompense or reward someone for (a favour, a service rendered, etc.)
But remember / (For that's my buſineſſe to you) that you three / From Millaine did ſupplant good Proſpero, / Expos'd vnto the Sea (vvhich hath requit it) / Him, and his innocent childe: for vvhich foule deed, / The Povvres, delaying (not forgetting) haue / Incens'd the Seas, and Shores; yea, all the Creatures / Againſt your peace: […]1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iii], page 13, column 2:
He that requiteth a good turne, muſt imploy ſomevvhat of his ovvne, as he doth vvho repayeth the monie he ovveth: but he layeth out nothing vvho ſatisfieth himſelfe, no more then he giueth, vvho giueth to himſelfe. […] He therefore that requiteth a good turne pleaſureth him againe, from vvhom hee hath receiued any thing.1614, Lucius Annæus Seneca [i.e., Seneca the Younger], “Of Benefits. The First Book. Chapter XI.”, in Tho[mas] Lodge, transl., The Workes of Lucius Annæus Seneca, both Morrall and Naturall, London: […] William Stansby, →OCLC, page 100:
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[T]hey requited Chriſts paſſion, and died for him vvho ſuffered for them.1639, Thomas Fuller, “Jerusalem Wonne by the Turk, with Wofull Remarkables thereat”, in The Historie of the Holy Warre, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: […] Thomas Buck, one of the printers to the Universitie of Cambridge [and sold by John Williams, London], →OCLC, book II, page 107:
Children are disobedient, and they sting / Their father's hearts to madness and despair / Requiting years of care with contumely.1819, Percy B[ysshe] Shelley, The Cenci: A Tragedy, […], [Livorno], Italy: […] [Percy B. Shelley] for C[harles] and J[ames] Ollier […], →OCLC, Act II, scene ii, page 30:
Good cryptographists are rare indeed; and thus their services, although seldom required, are necessarily well requited.1841 July, Edgar A[llan] Poe, “A Few Words on Secret Writing”, in George R[ex] Graham, Rufus W[ilmot] Griswold, editors, Graham’s Lady’s and Gentleman’s Magazine. […], volume XIX, number 1, Philadelphia, Pa.: George R. Graham, →OCLC, page 35, column 2:
"It was the act of an Englishman—a fellow Englishman," said the little man simply. "I hope that one day I shall have the opportunity of requiting it … I probably shall," he added rather sadly. "It is one of the pleasant if quite onerous duties of a man of my position to requite the services he receives—usually on a disproportionately extravagant scale."1938 May, Evelyn Waugh, chapter 4, in Scoop: A Novel about Journalists, uniform edition, London: Chapman & Hall, published 1948 (1951 printing), →OCLC, book I (The Stitch Service), pages 57–58:
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To repay (someone) a debt owed; specifically, to recompense or reward (someone) for a favour, a service rendered, etc.
Sir I am ſo poore to requite you, you muſt looke for nothing but thankes of me, […]c. 1607–1610 (date written), Thomas Middleton; Thomas Dekker, The Roaring Girle. Or Moll Cut-purse. […], London: […] [Nicholas Okes] for Thomas Archer, […], published 1611, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i], signature E, recto:
This place, to vvhich Ariſtotle ovv'd his birth, he aftervvards requited vvith extraordinary gratitude.1656, Tho[mas] Stanley, “[Aristotle.] Chap[ter] I. His Country, Parents, and Time of His Birth.”, in The History of Philosophy, the Second Volume, volume II, London: […] Humphrey Moseley, and Thomas Dring: […], →OCLC, 6th part (Containing the Peripatetick Philosophers), page 1:
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[…] I vvas as vvell able to requite him for a large Preſent as he vvas to make it, and had reſolv'd it before I knevv he had ſent any Thing to the Ship; ſo that this exchanging of Preſents vvas but a kind of generous Barter or Commerce: […]1725, [Daniel Defoe], “Part II”, in A New Voyage Round the World, by a Course Never Sailed before. […], London: […] A[rthur] Bettesworth, […]; and W. Mears, […], →OCLC, page 68:
[W]hat here vve call our life is ſuch, / So little to be loved, and thou ſo much, / That I ſhould ill requite thee to conſtrain / Thy unbound ſpirit into bonds again.1790, William Cowper, “On the Receipt of My Mother’s Picture out of Norfolk. The Gift of My Cousin Ann Bodham.”, in Poems […], London: […] [F]or J[oseph] Johnson, […] by T[homas] Bensley, […], published 1806, →OCLC, page 582:
Well, Edie, we have enough to pay our debts, let folks say what they will, and requiting you is one of the foremost—let me press this sum upon you.1816, [Walter Scott], chapter XII, in The Antiquary. […], volume I, Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, →OCLC, page 265:
[R]egard this Earth / Made multitudinous with thy slaves, whom thou / Requitest for knee-worship, prayer, and praise, / And toil, and hecatombs of broken hearts, / With fear and self-contempt and barren hope.1818–1819 (date written), Percy Bysshe Shelley, “Prometheus Unbound”, in Prometheus Unbound […], London: C[harles] and J[ames] Ollier […], published 1820, →OCLC, Act I, scene i, page 19:
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To respond to or reciprocate (feelings, especially affection or love which has been shown).
My loue is requyted ſo louyngly / That in euery thyng that may delyght my mynde, / My wyt can not wyſhe it ſo well as I fynde1534, John Heywood, A Play of Loue, […], [London]: […] W[illiam] Rastell, →OCLC, signature B.i., verso:
To love thee boundless, was my bold resolve, / Because my courage fail'd to equal thee. / I then began with thousand tender arts / And pure fraternal love, thy heart to storm. / But cold, proud soul, requitedst thou this love.1843, Friedrich Schiller, translated by I. Towler, Don Carlos: Infante of Spain. A Dramatic Poem. […], Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg: Francis Nöldeke, →OCLC, act I, scene ii, page 11:
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To do or give a thing in return for (something).
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To retaliate or seek revenge for (an insult, a wrong, etc.).; to avenge.
Let me this craue, ſith firſt I vvas defyde, / That firſt I may that vvrong to him requite: / And if I hap to fayle, you ſhall recure my right.1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book IV, Canto VI”, in The Faerie Queene. […], part II (books IV–VI), London: […] [Richard Field] for William Ponsonby, →OCLC, stanza 9, page 82:
And when Joſephs brethren ſaw that their father was dead, they ſaid, Joseph will peraduenture hate vs, and will certainely requite vs all the euill which we did vnto him.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Genesis 50:15, column 2:
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[…] I will requite, / Although mine enemy be great and strong, / His cruel threat—do thou defend the young!a. 1823 (date written), Homer, “Hymn to Mercury. Translated from the Greek of Homer.”, in Percy Bysshe Shelley, transl., edited by Mary W[ollstonecraft] Shelley, Posthumous Poems of Percy Bysshe Shelley, London: […] [C. H. Reynell] for John and Henry L[eigh] Hunt, […], published 1824, →OCLC, stanza LXV, page 316:
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To retaliate or seek revenge against (someone) for an insult, a wrong, etc.; also (reflexive, rare), to seek revenge for (oneself).
My Gratious Lord, not ſo much for the iniury hée offred me héere in your preſence, as to delight you with ſome mirth, hath Fauſtus worthily requited this iniurious knight, which being all I deſire, I am content to releaſe him of his hornes: […]1589–1592 (date written), Ch[ristopher] Marl[owe], The Tragicall History of D. Faustus. […], London: […] V[alentine] S[immes] for Thomas Bushell, published 1604, →OCLC, signature E, verso:
[B]y kindling a fire in each Image, they made ſuch a ſmoke that the Indians vvounded & ſlevv many Tartars, vvho could not ſee to requite them [i.e., themselves] through the ſmoke: […]1613, Samuel Purchas, “[Relations of the Regions and Religions in Africa.] Of Presbyter Iohn: And of the Priest-Iohns in Asia: Whether that Descended of These.”, in Purchas His Pilgrimage. Or Relations of the World and the Religions Observed in All Ages and Places Discouered, from the Creation vnto this Present. […], London: […] William Stansby for Henrie Fetherstone, […], →OCLC, book VII (Of Æthiopia, and the African Ilands; and of Their Religions), page 558:
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And for a world bestowed, or a friend lost, / He can feel hate, fear, shame; not gratitude: / He but requites me for his own misdeed.1818–1819 (date written), Percy Bysshe Shelley, “Prometheus Unbound”, in Prometheus Unbound […], London: C[harles] and J[ames] Ollier […], published 1820, →OCLC, Act I, scene i, page 38:
[T]he doubly felon / […] / Requite himself for his most just expulsion / By blackening publicly his sovereign's consort, / And be resolved by his upright compeers.1821, Lord Byron, Marino Faliero, Doge of Venice. An Historical Tragedy, in Five Acts. […], London: John Murray, […], →OCLC, Act II, scene i, page 55:
They him ſaluted ſtanding far afore; / VVho vvell them greeting, humbly did requight, / And asked, to vvhat end they clomb that tedious hight.1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto X”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 49, page 149:
Lovvly they him ſaluted in meeke vviſe, / But he through pride and fatnes gan deſpiſe / Their meaneſſe; ſcarce vouchſafte them to requite.1591, Ed[mund] Sp[enser], “Prosopopoia. Or Mother Hubberds Tale.”, in Complaints. Containing Sundrie Small Poemes of the Worlds Vanitie. […], London: […] William Ponsonbie, […], →OCLC, signature [N4], recto:
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Obsolete To make up for (something); to compensate.
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Obsolete To respond to (a question, a statement, etc.).
Jeſus […] requited their queſtion vvith an other, as though a man ſhoulde dryue out one nayle vvith an other.1549 February 10 (Gregorian calendar; indicated as 1548), Erasmus, “The Paraphrase of Erasmus vpon the Gospell of Saincte Matthew. The .xxi. Chapiter.”, in Nicolas Udall [i.e., Nicholas Udall], transl., The First Tome or Volume of the Paraphrase of Erasmus vpon the Newe Testamente, London: […] Edwarde Whitchurche, →OCLC, folio cii, verso:
He bowed slightly to K.'s uncle, who appeared very flattered to make this new acquaintance, yet, being by nature incapable of expressing obligation, requited the Clerk of the Court's words with a burst of embarrassed but raucous laughter.1935, Franz Kafka, “K.’s Uncle—Leni”, in Willa Muir, Edwin Muir, E[liza] M[arian] Butler, transl., The Trial, definitive edition, London: Secker and Warburg, published 1956 (1977 printing), →ISBN, pages 118–119:
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Obsolete To take the place of (someone or something); to replace.
[For if] tranſmutation be made from one mans body into another, as if a piece of fleſh be exchanged from the biciptall muſcle of either parties arme, and about them both, an Alphabet circumſcribed; upon a time appointed as ſome conceptions affirme, they may communicate at vvhat diſtance ſoever. For if the one ſhall prick himſelf in A, the other at the ſame time vvill have a ſenſe thereof in the ſame part; […] vvhich is a vvay of intelligence very ſtrange, and vvould requite the Arte of Pythagoras; vvho could read a reverſe in the Moone.1646, Thomas Browne, “Concerning the Loadstone, therein of Sundry Common Opinions, and Received Relations, Naturall, Historicall, Medicall, Magicall”, in Pseudodoxia Epidemica: […], London: […] T[homas] H[arper] for Edward Dod, […], →OCLC, 2nd book, page 77:
This Roman Hierarchy ſhall be Politically killed, deveſted of all Povver and Authority: From vvhence vvill naturally flovv Mourning and Famine, grief of heart, vvith ſcarcity and poverty to requite their luxury before.1680, Henry More, “Notes. Chapter XVII. Vers. 8.”, in Apocalypsis Apocalypseos; or The Revelation of St John the Divine Unveiled. […], London: […] J. M. for J[ohn] Martyn, and W. Kettilby, […], →OCLC, page 184:
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Thy Mother vvell deſerves that ſhort delight, / The nauſeous Qualms of ten long Months and Travel to requite.1697, Virgil, “The Fourth Pastoral. Or, Pollio.”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, page 19, lines 75–76:
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Obsolete Of an action, a quality, etc.: to be a reward for (itself).
'Tis all vve beg thee, to conceal from Sight / Thoſe Acts of Goodneſs, vvhich themſelves requite.1715, [Alexander] Pope, The Temple of Fame: A Vision, London: […] Bernard Lintott […], →OCLC, page 32:
[T]o have saved you requites itself. We who walk the greenwood do many a wild deed, and the Lady Rowena's deliverance may be received as an atonement.1819 December 20 (indicated as 1820), Walter Scott, chapter II, in Ivanhoe; a Romance. […], volume III, Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co. […], →OCLC, page 42:
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To recompense, to repay.
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To retaliate, to seek revenge.
[…] Chriſt and his holy apoſtles, exhort euery man to pacience and ſufferance, without requiting of an euil dede or making anye defence but vſing further ſufferance, & doyng alſo good for euill, […]1528, Thomas More, “A Dialogue Concernynge Heresyes & Matters of Religion […]. Chapter XIV.”, in Wyllyam Rastell [i.e., William Rastell], editor, The Workes of Sir Thomas More Knyght, […], London: […] Iohn Cawod, Iohn Waly, and Richarde Tottell, published 30 April 1557, →OCLC, book IV, page 278, column 2:
Becauſe the ſpoiler is come vpon her, euen vpon Babylon, and her mightie men are taken, euery one of their vowes is broken, for the Lord God of recompenſes ſhall ſurely requite.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Jeremiah 51:56:
The verb is derived from Middle English requiten (“to repay”), and then partly from both of the following: * From re- (prefix meaning ‘again; back, backward’) + quiten (“to pay, pay for; to repay; to acquit (someone of a charge), exonerate; to prove (oneself) innocent; to answer, reply; to atone for (a sin); to compensate, make amends; to depart, leave; to equal, match; to fulfil (an obligation); to give back, return; to give up, relinquish; to release, set free; to render (a service); to reward; to give retribution, take revenge”) (from Old French quitter (“to free, liberate”) (modern French quitter), from quitte (“free, liberated”) + -er (suffix forming verbs)). Quitte is derived from Latin quiētus (“at rest; quiet”), the perfect passive participle of quiēscō (“to repose, rest; to sleep; to be quiet or still”), from quiēs (“rest, repose; sleep; calm, peace, quiet”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kʷyeh₁- (“to rest; peace, rest”)) + -scō (suffix forming verbs with the sense ‘to begin to do [something]’). * From Old French requiter, requitter (“to free or liberate again”), from re- (prefix meaning ‘again’) + quitter (see above). The noun is derived from the verb.
1
Chiefly in the form in requite for or of: synonym of requital (“compensation for damage or loss; return in kind, recompense, repayment, reward”).