quit
/kwɪt/ adjective, verb, noun
Forms quits quitting quitted quittest quittedst quitteth quight
- adjective (usually followed by of) Released from obligation, penalty, etc; free, clear, or rid.
- verb (transitive) To leave (a place). “The British quit India in the 1940s.”
- verb (transitive) To set at rest; to free, as from anything harmful or oppressive; to relieve; to clear; to liberate.
- verb (transitive) To release from obligation, accusation, penalty, etc.; to absolve; to acquit.
- verb (transitive) To abandon, renounce (a thing).
- verb (ambitransitive) To resign from (a job, office, position, etc.). “After having to work overtime without being paid, I quit my job.”
- verb (ambitransitive) To stop, give up (an activity). [(usually) with gerund; or with verbal noun] “John is planning to quit smoking.”
- verb (transitive, computing) To close (an application).
- verb (transitive, archaic) To pay (a debt, fine etc.).
- noun Any of numerous species of small passerine birds native to tropical America.
Synonyms
call it quits conclude finish discontinue stop cease give up lay off leave office step down resign depart take leave foreswear renounce relinquish drop out fall by the wayside drop by the wayside throw in throw in the towel chuck up the sponge
Antonyms
Etymology
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.
Probably of imitative origin.
Webster’s 1913
- noun Any one of numerous species of small passerine birds native of tropical America. See Banana quit, under Banana, and Guitguit.
- adjective Released from obligation, charge, penalty, etc.; free; clear; absolved; acquitted. Chaucer.
- verb To set at rest; to free, as from anything harmful or oppressive; to relieve; to clear; to liberate. [R.]
- verb To release from obligation, accusation, penalty, or the like; to absolve; to acquit.
Etymology [OE. quite, OF. quite, F. quitte. See Quit, v., Quirt.]
Etymology [OE. quiten, OF. quiter, quitier, cuitier, F. quitter, to acquit, quit, LL. quietare, fr. L. quietare to calm, to quiet, fr. quietus quiet. See Quiet, a., and cf. Quit, a., Quite, Acquit, Requite.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “quit”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details