Where does “quite” come from?
Quite comes from English quit, which derives from Spanish quitar, Old French quitter, and Late Latin quieto, ultimately from Latin quiescere meaning to rest or become quiet.
quite (English): "To the greatest extent or degree; completely,...
Definitions
- "To the greatest extent or degree; completely,...
Ancestry of “quite”, step by step
quite traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English quit
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | quit | To pay; To repay for; To repay, pay back |
| 2 | Middle English | quiten | — |
| 3 | Anglo-Norman | quitter | to liberate; to free |
| 4 | Old French | quitter | to liberate; to free |
| 5 | Old French | quitte | free; liberated |
| 6 | Latin | quiētus | at rest/nap, quiet, keeping quiet, quietude, quietness |
| 7 | Latin | quiēscō | to rest, sleep, repose |
| 8 | Latin | quiēs | the rest of sleep, repose |
| 9 | Proto-Italic | kʷiētis | — |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | kʷyéh₁tis | — |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | kʷyeh₁- | to rest; rest, peace |
via Spanish quite
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Spanish | quite | The action of removal; A swerve or sidestep;... |
| 2 | Spanish | quitar | To remove, to take away, to take down, to take... |
| 3 | Medieval Latin | quitare | release, discharge, set free; to free; to set... |
| 4 | Latin | quiētāre | — |
| 5 | Latin | quiētō | to quiet, calm |
| 6 | Latin | -ō | suffixed to nouns or adjectives. Originally a-stem nouns. Later extended to nouns with other stems. Forms regular first-conjugation verbs |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -ō | Derives nouns from roots |